Carer Pauline goes trekking for charity

LIVE-IN carer Pauline Mitchell is all set to swap life in Bath for the Sinai desert.

She’ll have a dual goal when she and her rucksack head for Egypt: finding adventure and raising money for the Alzheimer’s Society.

“I saw the trip advertised in a slimming magazine,” said Pauline, 62, who works in Bath city centre as a carer for Corinium Care.

“I’m a widow with no ties. I wanted a bit of adventure. And I’ve come across Alzheimer’s quite a bit in my life. So I signed up.”

Pauline’s mother and aunt both suffered from Alzheimer’s. She also deals with the disease in her job as a carer for Corinium Care, based in Gloucestershire.

“It’s a frightening disease which no one really understands,” she said. “Watching my dear mother and aunt trying to cope with it, as well as the elderly lady I have been looking after these past two years, has spurred me on to extend myself in the hope that I may make a difference.”

Her trip begins on November 21, and takes her through the desert with 45 other fundraisers to the Red Sea. They’ll walk 70km in five days and sleep in Bedouin tents.

The Managing Director of Corinium Care, Camilla Miles, is sponsoring Pauline. “She’s got an arduous challenge ahead and we’re very pleased to be supporting her. Anything that helps with the incredibly important work that the Alzheimer’s Society does is always to be encouraged,” she said.

Anyone who wants to add to Pauline’s fundraising total can do so via her website www.justgiving.com/paulinemitchell1/
Pauline originally comes from Zimbabwe. She has two children in Australia and one in South Africa. “They’re very excited, and they’re all helped me to reach my fundraising target of £1,220,” she said.