Gill – Living with MS and scaling Mount Snowdon

There’s less than three weeks to go before the Willow Wood Mount Snowdon Trek, and plucky Gill Egerton, who has been living with Multiple Sclerosis since 2010, is one of a team of staff from the Hospice who is taking part to raise much-needed funds.

“I’ve been involved with Willow Wood since 2009” Gill explained. “My dad had Motor Neurone Disease and found the support offered by the Day Services to be hugely beneficial to him and to our family. And the care given to him while he was on the Inpatient Ward was wonderful. The dignity, the respect, the precious time we could spend together knowing he was not in pain meant so much to us all. I determined then that I would do everything I could for the Hospice and in 2011 became a volunteer.

“Two years later I was offered a permanent staff role and now I’m the HR and Facilities Lead, but I’m still as passionate as ever about Willow Wood. Indeed, my personal circumstances after being diagnosed with MS have made me see things in a different light and I’m even more aware of how much our services are needed in the community.”

Gill, along with sister Maria Wheeldon and six other members of the Willow Wood team, will all be climbing Mount Snowdon on Saturday 21 May. “Working here, we all know just how vital it is to raise funds to maintain and develop our care. And although our care is, and always will be, free of charge it does cost – £7,650 every single day. We’re funded for less than 20% of that, so fundraising activities like the Trek are essential.”

Gill and the other team members have been training hard – climbing all Mount Snowdon’s 3,560 feet is not for the faint-hearted, and although the Llanberis Path is considered the easiest route it will still take around nine hours there and back.

“It’s a challenge for anyone, but I’m coming up to my 50th birthday very soon so to conquer Snowdon will be a real achievement and something to celebrate. There are still spaces left on the Trek and if you’d like to join us, please go to willowwood.org.uk to sign up online. If you can’t but would like to support my efforts, please go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gillegerton. You’ll have my thanks, but more importantly, the thanks of our patients. Thank you”.