Two women horseback ride between GNAAS’ two bases


TWO horse riders have ridden more than 100km in a sponsored horseback ride between the Great North Air Ambulance Service’s (GNAAS) two bases.


Sarah Sowden, from Spennymoor, and Clair Woff, from Witton-le-Wear, came up with the idea to ride from the base in Cumbria to the base in County Durham after several holidays exploring the Cumbrian landscape on horseback.

They set off on their horses Sprout, 11, and Willy, 12, from the GNAAS base in Langwathby, Cumbria, on Thursday August 23, and were waved off by Mrs Sowden’s brother Jamie Walsh, who is a GNAAS paramedic.

The women’s Base2Base trek followed old drover trails and ancient byways over the Pennines, before going through Teesdale and onto Darlington and Yarm.

Their route took five days to complete and they arrived at the other GNAAS base at Durham Tees Valley Airport (DTVA) on Monday August 27.

Mr Walsh was working at DTVA that day and was waiting to greet them as they arrived at the finishing line.

Mrs Sowden’s sons Luke and Kyle were also there to cheer the two women on, and afterwards they were treated to a tour of the helicopter to learn more about the service that GNAAS provides.

So far Mrs Sowden and Mrs Woff have raised more than £2,500 for the charity.

If you would like to support their fundraising visit: justgiving.com/fundraising/base2baseride

To find out more about their journey visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Base2BaseCharityHorseRide/

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