The Tenacious Four, Rexine Hawes, Amy Pollock, Rachel Pridham and Meghan Lancaster will walk 100km of Whakatāne terrain in the 2019 Oxfam Trailwalker on March 22.
Rachel Pridham, right-hand supporter of 2018 Starship fundraiser Kate Pridham, is setting her sights even higher in the pursuit of helping others – this time walking 100km to raise hundreds of dollars for Oxfam New Zealand.
The Cambridge mum is part of a group of Matamata-Piako district women tackling the 2019 Oxfam Trailwalker, traversing 100km of Whakatāne terrain by foot in the pursuit of raising $2000 for the organisation, which tackles poverty in the south Pacific.
“It’s about helping people that really have just absolutely nothing. And much like for people in Starship, it’s out of their control,” said Rachel.
The humble mother of two has been steadily training for the big event next month, walking over 30k on the Te Awa walkway over the weekend, and planning on doing another 50km with the group this month along the Hauraki Rail Trail.
“We’re all pretty determined, stubborn people,” Rachel laughed. “I’ll just be taking it (the 100km Oxfam walk) in blocks at a time.
“I don’t think it’s about the hundred kilometres at the end, it’s about doing something good in the world. Regardless of whether we walk 60 or a hundred or whatever we do, we’ve raised money for an organisation that is doing good in the world.
“The main thing for us is that we reach our goal and do our best, that’s my attitude anyway!”
Last year Rachel helped her then-nine-year-old daughter Kate raise hundreds of dollars for Waikato’s Starship Hospital. “It just made us feel like we are doing something, not just sitting around talking about all the things that go wrong in the world. We’re trying to make a difference, because there’s no point sitting there and complaining,” Rachel said. “It’s just trying to do your bit, and it is only a little bit.”
Already the Tenacious Four team has raised over $1200. Donations towards their efforts can be made by searching “Tenacious Four” at www.oxfamtrailwalker.org.nz/search.
