Fine Winter 2019

The call of the Sahara
Why editor Lucy Pitts and her daughter
are walking across the desert
Photo by Sophie Ward Photography
In March next year, our editor Lucy and
her 13-year-old daughter, Greta, are
joining a group of 56 others and walking
across the Sahara Desert. The aim is to
raise money for St. Catherine’s Hospice, a
vital local hospice and community service
based in Crawley. We think they’re both
mad but thought we’d ask them to explain!
The why?
Lucy: “I think we all know someone who
has spent time at the hospice, and I’ve lost
two friends in the last few years who both
spent their last few days and weeks there.
The work that they do and the way that
they do it, can’t be measured. It’s the very
essence of what makes us human. I do
like a challenge, and I was 50 this year so
when I heard about the trek, I knew it was
for me.”
Greta: “I had decided I wanted to do
something for charity this year. When
mum mentioned this, I knew it would be
amazing”.
The training
Lucy: “We started training in April last
year, and we thought we’d combine
training with fundraising! So far between
us, we’ve done 4 triathlons and a 20mile
night walk. Greta was not happy about
the night walk because I thought I’d
signed up to do 20km. It was cold, we
were dressed in shorts and t-shirts
and manifestly unprepared. About 2am
in the morning things felt pretty bleak
(she might have sworn at me) but we
both finished. We were practically on
our knees and I’m immensely proud of
her. For the next part of our training,
we’re building the distances of our
walks, making sure each walk includes a
fair measure of both mud and hills.”
Greta: “I’ve loved most of the training
so far, except for that walk! I hated
that!”
And the experience so far?
Greta: “To be honest, I don’t always
want to spend hours with my mother
training at the weekend, but I suppose
it does give us a chance to talk which
we probably wouldn’t normally do. And
I’ve been so inspired every time we’ve
been to St. Catherine’s.”
Lucy: “To be fair, she mainly talks and
I listen, but I’ve been impressed about
how dedicated she’s been. And it’s
fair to say, we’ve had some amazing
adventures together already and we
haven’t even got to Morocco yet!
If you’d like to sponsor them, you can do
so at:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
lucy-dk-pitts
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/
greta-pitts
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