Gurkha community looking forward to Downs trail hike
Two teams made up of Gurkha families are taking on a 100km endurance challenge for charity.
Seven Gurkha wives and one soldier from the Queen’s Gurkha Engineer Regiment based in Maidstone will be attempting the Oxfam Trailwalker from July 22 to 24.
It starts at Queen Elizabeth Country Park in Hampshire, and goes through the South Downs National Park before finishing at Brighton Racecourse.
Along the way participants will follow grass and flint tracks across the rolling countryside, passing stunning dry valleys and pretty villages.
There are also steep climbs up scarp slopes, and dramatic views from high points.
The event is modelled on a Gurkha Signals training exercise following the Maclehose Trail in Hong Kong, the Trailwalker was brought to the UK in 1997 and became a partnership between Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust in 2002.
This year, two teams from Maidstone have enrolled on the walk and need the public’s support to reach their £1,400 fundraising target.
Hema Rai, Rebecca Limbu, Nisha Gurungand and Raju Sunuwar make up the Powerpuff Girls and MojoJojo (QGE), while Buddhisara Gurung, Geeta Pun, Nelson Rai and Aliza Ale are team QGE Didi Baini.
They will raise money for Gurkha veterans and their families as well as for Oxfam’s various humanitarian projects.
A group spokesman said: “We have always wanted to challenge ourselves and do something worthwhile. Trailwalker was the ideal challenge as it was a charity with a cause.”
They have been training for almost four months, and are hoping to complete the challenge in the average time of 27 hours.
The best ever team time of 9 hours 50 minutes was logged by the Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistics Regiment in 2004.
Donate online via www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ Nisha-Gurung9 and www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ nelson-rai