Final push to raise cash for Borneo expedition

The race is on to raise a total of £60,000 to take 30 volunteers to Borneo on an expedition to mark the 50th anniversary of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Herefordshire Council holds the county license for the Duke of Edinburgh Award, offering advice and support to its 18 active groups, 48 access organisations and the Herefordshire expedition group.

Twenty-three young people and seven adults have spent the last fifteen months holding cake sales, coffee mornings, race nights, sponsored walks and bag packing ventures to raise the £2,000 each required to take part in the expedition.  They have until the end of May to do so and the last count showed they’ve only £7,200 to go.

If successful, they will enjoy a trip of a lifetime, and pass the expedition element of their Duke of Edinburgh award.  They are all at different levels, but several could achieve their gold.

The expedition will last for three weeks and take the young adventurers to live in a village community to complete an irrigation project before spending ten days in the tropical rain forest living alongside snakes, spiders, mosquitoes and bugs.  They will complete their expedition by attempting to climb the highest mountain in South-East Asia.

Assistant youth service manager, Andy Preedy,said: “The fundraising element is part of the plan and will carry on until the end of May.  Everyone’s worked really hard on this project, and I’m sure targets will be met.

“We’ve been meeting to plan and train for this expedition for weeks.  We’ve been learning about living in a jungle – little things like remembering to check your boots for creepy crawlies or snakes before putting them on can be fundamental to survival.

“We’ve also been preparing physically for the challenges that lie ahead, from learning techniques for personal hygiene in a jungle environment to receiving injections for no less than six diseases, including rabies.

“This will be a life changing experience for all the volunteers and they will come back thinking differently about themselves and the world they live in.”