Lynne Gilbert is Norwood’s acting Head of Volunteering and a long-time fundraiser whose energy and enthusiasm seemingly knows no bounds. Over the past 12 years she has taken part in 15 domestic and international sponsored Norwood bike rides in countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Morocco, as well as designing her own highly-demanding sponsored sporting Challenges.
She climbed to Everest base camp in 2004 and cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats in 2006, and now her latest challenge is even tougher. She aims to reach the summit of Mount Kenya and Mount Kilimanjaro in the space of two weeks, between 27 September and 12 October, raising £3,000 for the UK’s leading Jewish charity for children and families in the process.
Lynne plans all her own “DIY” challenges and carefully selects fellow like-minded people who are fit enough to join her . She said: “I try to find challenges that will capture the imagination of my sponsors and this year I felt that trekking two summits instead of one was a more exciting option and, of course, more of a challenge.” It will take four days to reach the 4985m summit of Mount Kenya and then a further six days to tackle the 5895m to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Lynne pays all of the expenses herself, so every penny she raises goes straight to Norwood. She said: “I have learned that anything is possible as long as you believe that it is possible. With a strong belief supported by good planning, preparation and training you can make it happen.”
It is not too late to sponsor Lynne. For more details, please phone Terry Collier on 020 8420 6870 or email terry.collier@norwood.org.uk
Lynne is also a founder member of the Norwood Cycle club, which organises Sunday social/training rides from Radlett once a month. For more information, please email cycleclub@norwood.org.uk or call Alex Pomerance on 07970 130 101.
For further information please contact David Wosner, Public Relations Officer at Norwood on 020 8420 6942 or email david.wosner@norwood.org.uk
For more details on Norwood Challenges, visit www.norwood.org.uk/challenges or contact the Challenges team on 020 8420 6834 or challenges@norwood.org.uk
