Leanne (Patient Care Co-ordinator) from Creative Smiles along with her friend Emma Bailie completed The Great Wall of China Trek successfully back in October 2010 raising a total of £11,500 for Local Charity Action Cancer. they also completed 2 Optional Treks in addition to the challenge, one involving a trek to one of the Highest Watchtowers on the Great Wall giving 360 degree panoramic views at the top!
Leanne & Emma would sincerley like to thank all those who supported them to reach this amazing total including all the Creative Smiles Team and Patients as well as 28 other fellow trekkers from all over who completed the challenge while supporting 15 other amazing charities!
”The photographs above can never really fully show the true beauty and sheer capacity of the Great Wall. Every moment was breathtaking . We spent a total of 5 days (around 6-9 hours per day) on the wall Trekking on various parts starting at Jinshanling which involved very steep steps which proved a challenge in the heavy wind and rain! We then moved to the Gubeikou Wall where we trekked on unrestored parts of the Wall, this at times was very trying with having no sides to the Wall here we felt very exposed and there were occasions where there were vertical drops on either side of us (not easy for 2 girls who have a fear of heights!) From here to The Black dragon Pool Park which is a beautiful National Park. On to the Mitianyu part of the wall. The final day finished the challenge with a very early start for a Sunrise Trek on the Juyongguan Pass, a sight that we will never forget! We then had a choice on how we would exit the wall. Of course it had to be via’ toboggan’ which was a lot of fun!!”
Leanne attained the ‘Dragon Slayer Award’ for showing courage and facing her extreme fear of heights! She is now training towards an attempt to summit Mount Elbrus (Russia) the highest Point in Europe for the Heartbeat Charity!