Anyone familiar with the homepage of Jan’s website is probably aware by now that in a few months, in a bid to raise money for Elise for Life (a charity providing money to the Christie hospital in Manchester to aid the fight against cancer), Jan will be attempting – and hopefully completing – the Great Wall of China Trek.

Jan has to raise a minimum of £3000 (she paid for the Trek itself on her own, and all of the money raised went directly to charity), most of which was raised at a charity dinner with raffle and auction in which a number of donated items, including a signed JLS shirt, helped boost funds on the night.

The Trek spans an intimidating 85km and Jan will be on it for 6 days out of 8. She will be traversing approximately 12km per day. The Trek is known for being both physically and mentally challenging, even to experienced hikers.

And yet, she still hasn’t started her training. She won a session with a personal trainer at a raffle a while ago, and recently bought a pair of walking boots (pictured below)… also, she believes that because she walks the streets of London regularly, she won’t have any problem walking the Wall. We have our doubts about this.

…It would appear that we’re all a little too domesticated here. So, any suggestions for how we can help Jan survive for 8 days without her being carried around would be very welcome.Recently, suggestions have been flying around the office as to how to make the experience as comfortable as possible for her, considering how underprepared she may be when she leaves. We suggested that she should wear her walking boots around the office; her response was to tell us that she would need to embellish the boots in some way beforehand, in order for them to be “credible in her world”. She’ll probably start working on her boots as soon as she can find the time. We’ll let you know how she gets on – watch this space for a photograph of her improvements!

Also, Jan is continuing to raise funds for Elise for Life – largely by producing and selling the beautiful sunflower cushion pictured below