Duo trekking the Great Wall in memory of ‘lovely’ grandmother

An aspiring chef from Little Yeldham is swapping her whites for hiking boots next year in memory of a friend’s grandmother.

Jess Day, 18, and friend Alex Unsworth, 20, will be trekking part of the Great Wall of China in aid of St Nicholas Hospice Care, who helped Alex’s grandmother, Mary Vogeler, in the last years of her life before she passed away in August.

The pair are aiming to raise at least £3,000 each for the ten day trek, which they will be undertaking next September.

Colchester Institute student Jess said: “I thought it would be a great life experience. I have always wanted to travel the world and China is definitely a place I want to go.

“I have known Alex’s nan most of my life, she was really good friends with my nan. She used to love travelling and was an all around lovely woman.

“When we found out she was so ill, we wanted to do something for the charity because they did such a good job looking after her and her family.”

On their trek Jess and Alex will be covering up to 35km a day, primarily on stretches of the Wall not frequented by tourists.

“I think it’s going to be good, because it is somewhere to say you have not followed the tourist track,” said Jess, who works at a restaurant in Great Yeldham.

“Our target is a lot of money, but we’re doing everything we can to try and reach it.”

Jess said she will be organising other events, with some help from colleagues, to reach her fund-raising target.