Quiz Night!

Well, with the treasure hunt now completed I began to think about what I could do next, some ideas included a sponsored abseil with a few friends, a bag packing day at a local supermarket or a curry night.
I was having a think about which could easily be sorted out when through my door came a lovely letter from the Management Company at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. They have kindly donated two premier club tickets!

So I began to think about how I could really promote these tickets as well as some beautiful designer jewellery that I have had donated from CarrieElsbeth, and came up with the idea of combining an auction with a quiz night.

To help with this auction I have also had donations from Luisa Arianna (who has kindly donated some aromatherapy oils) and also La Tasca Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurant, who have also donated.

So, the plan is to have a quiz night towards the end of March, and to have an auction to correspond.
Every penny will go towards the fundraising for Women for Women!

More information to follow.

Catherine x

Cuba!

So, where am I going?

Here's a few more details about the route that I will be taking next March:

Day 1 London - Havana

Day 2 Havana - Bay of Pigs

(Time to visit the small museum dedicated to the invasion in 1962)

Day 3 Bay of Pigs - Cienfuegos (85km cycling approx)

(Today's ride is mainly off-road through Zapata Peninsula National Park, following the coast and undulating all the way to the provincial Capital of Cienfuegos).

Day 4 Cienfuegos - Trinidad (81 km approx)

Undulating coastal road, followed by some short, sharp hills. After 20kms some stunning views of the Escambray mountains across a valley of sugar cane.

Day 5 Trinidad - Topes do Collantes (39kms approx)

Cycle into Trinidad and along the coast through the picturesque village of La Boca before turning inland.

Day 6 Topes de Collantes - Santa Clara (84km approx)

A tough 10km uphill section to start through pine trees and eucalyptus before beginning the descent to Santa Clara. Today is the most spectacular in terms of scenery with palm trees and tropical plants replacing pine forests.

Day 7 Santa Clara - Cienfuegos (80km approx)

Cycling through fields of sugar cain, entering the province of Cienfuegos. The final stretch takes us through the colonial heart of this beautiful Caribbean town.

Day 8 Havana

A day free to explore Havana.

Day 9 Havana - London

Day 10 London (Completely Saddle Sore and unable to sit for a week?!?!?)

It's going to be gruelling, sheer hard work and challenging (it is NOT a holiday!), but I will be immensely proud of myself and no doubt eager to do it all over again!

Catherine x

Car Treasure Hunt Feb 17th

On Sunday 17th I had a car treasure hunt to raise money for the Cycle Cuba event.

The treasure hunt took place between a local car park and a country pub and took the treasure hunters through both a country park and a national park.

On the Sunday the weather was perfect, although it was a bit chilly by the time the hunters had to walk through the park.

I had arranged a set of questions that each of the groups had to answer, they needed to collect a few items and describe the locations of some photographs that I had taken.

All in all I think everyone enjoyed themselves. It took a lot of organising but the feedback that I have had has been positive, to the point that I think I might arrange something similar for the Summer.

The first prize was a carvery meal, kindly donated by a local restaurant. Both the restaurant and the Country Pub were extremely helpful. More details can be found on my fundraising page.

I'd like to thank everyone that took part and am very grateful for their generosity and the sense of fun that they all had. So Cheers to all of you!

Catherine x

February 20th 2008

Welcome to my first blog post for this fundraising challenge that I have set myself.

After listening to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman last year on Radio 1, talking about their efforts to travel from John O'Groats to Cape Town I decided that I also wanted to challenge myself.
I flicked through a few magazines and saw an advertisement for Cycle Cuba. This was an event organised by Action for Charity, on behalf of Women for Women. Women for Women raises money for The Wolfson and Weston Research Centre for Family Health at Imperial College, London. Their fundamental aim is to ensure that women have ongoing good health throughout their lives and to ensure that more women have a normal pregnancy and a healthy baby.

This charity seemed to be an excellent one to support. The Wolfson and Weston Research Centre is one of excellence, unparalleled in Europe and runs internationally renowned teaching programmes.

As I found out more about the charity the more interested I became, to the point that in December 2007 I decided to join the event that they were having in Cuba in March 2009!

So here I am, posting my first blog about my efforts to train and to raise funds to enable me to go to Cuba.

I'm hoping that this blog will be a diary for the events that lead up to Cycle Cuba. I will share my happiness and frustrations of training and fundraising, as well as post photographs of any events that I have.

So, here's the details about the event in Cuba.
March 2009 I shall cycle 370km over the Caribean's largest and least commercialised islands, starting in Havana and cycling through the Bay of Pigs, Trinidad and Santa Clara, passing through other towns and villages along the way.
Before I can even get there I need to raise £3000 in sponsorship money and will be organising events to do this.
I'm hoping to post the events that I do in this blog, to keep a diary ofthem as they occur.


So Keep Watching this Space!

Catherine x