Northumberland (23rd – 26th May 2025)
Back in the Summer of 2024, Nitin decided to choose Northumberland as the venue for a 4 day stay in 2025, where one of the days would be spent trekking 15km through the beautiful Northumberland National Park to help the children of El Shaddai Charitable Trust. A JustGiving page was created for all those who joined Nitin to share and raise donations.
The Hilton Hotel in Newcastle was chosen as the perfect base to stay 3 nights and discover the other highlights of Northumberland too, which is almost 6 hours from the start in Harrow, NW London. Nitin had 54 trekkers join him on the trip, which more than covered the costs and overheads of the hotel and coach.
The Day of the Trek: In conjunction with trained mountain guides, they decided the 15km trek should take in the famous Hadrian’s Wall Path. 54 trekkers started, with 14 trekkers, including Nitin’s 90-year-old father, returning back to base after a shorter pre-planned 2½ mile trek. An 88-year-old friend and others with health issues were still able to experience the splendour of this stunning landscape. The path was created over 2000 years ago during the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian and the historical significance of this cannot be underestimated.
They passed the famous “Sycamore Gap”, a dip in the National Park where a Sycamore tree once stood strategically, along with a lake and other beautiful surrounding countryside of various terrain.
Despite the threat of rain, the sun shone as 37 trekkers, including a 10 year old, finished the 15km trek successfully in approximately 6 hours. Thanks went to the four wonderful guides for their professional guiding and inspiration before well-deserved celebrations took place at the bar upon returning to the Hotel.
The next morning at 6.30am, Mina, Nitin’s wife, gave a free 1½ hour Yoga lesson to those who managed to make it!
A trip to Seahouses, a harbour about 1½ hours away from Newcastle, was planned along with a 2 hour boat trip to see the wonderful migratory birds including puffins and grey seals on the uninhabited Farne Islands. Nitin commented “this was the highlight, seeing nature in its natural habitat. It was beautiful and almost surreal to experience and reminded me of a mini Arctic boat trip”.
They also visited the famous and huge Angel of the North sculpture, created by the renowned Antony Gormley OBE, as well as taking in the almost 1000 year old Durham Cathedral before returning home. Nitin said “So many wonderful memories and new friends have been made on this trip”.
At the time of writing, the grand total raised through the JustGiving Page, which all the trekkers shared with family and friends, stands at an amazing £10,871.80! This includes Gift Aid claimed and the surplus from the costs of the trip. Donations have come from far and wide, including Australia!
Nitin said “I am most grateful to everyone for helping me raise such a fantastic total for El Shaddai Charitable Trust and it will be utilised in a very useful and suitable project to help at the children’s homes or shelters”.
“I wish to thank my wife, Mina, and my family, who have always supported and joined me in my Treks for Charity”.
