This summer we plan to walk the Gran Recorrido 11 or GR11; a recently created long distance footpath that mirrors the corresponding GR10, which is situated over the peaks on the French side of the Pyrenees. The GR11 runs coast to coast from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea – a dip in both will be essential! The trail covers approximately 840km through some isolated and high areas from Cabo Higuer at the Bay of Biscay in the west of the Pyrenees, to Cabo de Creus in the East.

We are looking forward to visiting the selection of regions that make up the Pyrenees, from the Basque country to Cataluna. Furthermore, we intend to stick to a tight schedule and attempt to complete the journey in 46 days. However, the main aim of our expedition is to raise £10,000 for the Wallace-Kelsey Research Foundation.   

The Wallace-Kelsey Research Foundation, founded by Drs Hamish Wallace and Tom Kelsey, was established to study the post treatment effects on cancer patients. Dr Wallace is a Reader at the University of Edinburgh and a paediatric oncologist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. Dr Kelsey is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews.

The foundation has enjoyed great success. Most notably, when investigating the effects of cancer treatment on the fertility of women, Drs Wallace and Kelsey devised a method to predict the likely age of menopause that the University of Edinburgh Annual Review 03/04 referred to as a “revolutionary”.
The future aims of the foundation are to perfect, the aforementioned method of fertility measurement, in order to increase our understanding of ovarian reserves in healthy women. It is hoped that this research can be used, with enormous benefit, to help women who are being considered for assisted reproductive technologies, young women who are long-term survivors of childhood cancer, and women who are considering delaying starting a family for personal and professional reasons.

We have decided to donate to the Wallace-Kelsey Foundation due to this recent success and partly due to its relatively small size. Thus not only will the donation make a difference, but the results and will also be very visible.

Any donations will be greatly appreciated – thank you.

Pete, Dush and Mike