Emma, Amber & Doug's Big Adventure

Emma, Amber & Doug's Big Adventure

Emma, Amber & Doug's Big Adventure

Emma D'sylva

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In June 2024 Amber, Douglas and I will take on a gruelling and hilly speed hiking challenge in an attempt to raise at least £5,000 for 2 amazing charities! We will be walking the Offa's Dyke route criss crossing the borders of England and Wales and wild camping along the way whilst carrying all of our necessary supplies for the trip. We aim to cover an average of 47.5km/29.5 miles per day in order complete this challenge in just 6 days!
Total Distance: 285km
Total elevation: 29,806ft (That’s more than climbing Mt Everest!)
Duration: 6 days (We will persevere to the end even if it takes longer)

The Charities:

As you’ll be aware by now I quite like dogs and that’s why I want to give back to some dogs who go above and beyond dedicating and often risking their lives to making the world a better places for us humans.

Hero Paws:
Providing military working dogs and service dogs with a happy retirement through rehabilitation and retraining. These amazing people help so many Veteran Dogs get the happy retirement that they so badly deserve after bravely serving their country. Unfortunately retired service dogs do not recieve any financial support from the forces that they served with and that is where Hero Paws steps in.
Registered Charity (SC051486)
https://heropaws.org.uk/

SARDA Wales:
National Search and Rescue Dogs Association Wales are a specialist Search Dog component of Mountain Rescue. When a person is missing in a rural or mountain environment a dog team will be much more efficient at finding them than a search team made up of people only. If the missing person is ill, injured or vulnerable this added speed and efficiency can make the difference between life and death. Dog teams can also operate effectively in thick cloud or darkness where people struggle.
Reg charity (506056)
https://www.sardawales.org.uk

About us:

I have always loved being outdoors; walking, camping, climbing, paddle boarding, swimming and those trips were always a million times better with my dogs. In 2013 I set out to raise money for a local dog rescue and walked this same route with my first ever dog Skye. I was totally underprepared due to being way too over prepared. By that I mean that I had heavy kit and took way too much stuff incase of every eventuality as I had never done a solo multiday trek in an unknown area for more than a night or two. My pack weighed about 25kg and it was hard going! Nevertheless we completed the route in 12 days and Skye did an excellent job carrying her rucksack.
In 2019 at 12 years old Skye lost her yearlong battle with heart failure and sadly I had to say goodbye to her. Her son Oakley (aka best boy ever) was very depressed when Skye went so a short time after I adopted Amber. She was 18 months old and a totally crazy whirlwind of energy, worlds apart from the calm life with Skye and Oakley but she did a fantastic job of distracting Oaks and she settled in to her new rural life of adventures with ease. In 2022 life as I knew it came to an abrupt halt when Oakley was suddenly taken ill and found to have a massive tumour on his heart. There was nothing that could be done to save him and yet again I had to say my goodbyes.
Amber adapted well to being a spoilt only child until February this year when with 15minutes notice I took on the crazy Belgian Malinois boy Douglas as he had a crappy owner who was trying to get him shot. Douglas was completely out of control and terrified of people and when I met him he was muzzled and lunging and snapping at anything that went near him. His owner had zero control of him and I did worry about what my 'help any animal' attitude had got me into. Fortunately I managed to change him around very quickly and he's now a completely different dog who is ready to join us on this massive challenge as we continue Skye and Oakley’s adventurous legacy by getting out into the hills, woods, mountains and rivers whenever possible.

Prizes for supporters!

As an extra incentive to anybody who donates here for these amazing causes I will be running a prize draw after the walk. We currently have some fantastic prizes up for grabs and the list keeps growing. Draw closes on 16th June. Please read T&C's below.

Prizes to include:

☆ 1x family ticket to Bounce Below ZipWorld- https://www.zipworld.co.uk/

☆ 1 x Pawfit3 pet tracker with a months free subscription -
https://www.pawfit.com/

☆ 2025 Bushcraft Show weekend family ticket -
https://thebushcraftshow.co.uk/

☆Bushcraft and survival skills magazine subscription - https://thebushcraftshow.co.uk/

☆Fjallraven Keb 52 rucksack from Trekitt -
www.trekitt.co.uk

☆ Several dog treat bundles from Betty Miller pet treats -
https://www.bettymiller.com/

☆ A Bushcraft course up to the value of £270 from Woodland Ways -
https://woodland-ways.co.uk/

☆ Hero Paws goodies
https://heropaws.org.uk/

☆Voom sports nutrition taster pack +£25 voucher
www.voomnutrition.co.uk

☆Hereford Mantrailing Intro Course
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086902541241

☆Body Piercing by Torz £50 voucher
https://www.bodypiercingbytorz.com/

☆Beco dog toy and treat bundle.
https://www.becopets.com/collections/all?gad_source=1

☆Water-to-Go filtration bottle and filters-
https://watertogo.eu/shop/?gad_source=1

☆ The Natural Pup Collective £10 natural dog treat box. -
https://www.naturalpupcollective.com/?fbclid=IwAR2vbx1NrJ3Lqf9L4gKWOR38TyY2dzviotJmTxeZ1VibwypfaDzTerwyJw0

☆ Douglas and Dexter £5 dog bandana voucher-
Etsy.me/3dbB2JN

Follow our journey on Facebook @Amber and Doug's Big Adventure and on Instagram @Ambertheadventuredog and look out for tag and share posts for a chance to get 1 extra free ticket into the draw.

(T&C's: Winners will be drawn at random and contacted directly as well as posted on our Facebook page on 16th June 2024. Whilst we appreciate donations from across the globe unfortunately the prize draw is only open to UK residents due to postage costs. To be entered into the draw when donating you MUST tick the box enabling your contact details to be shared so that I can contact you if you win something. This can be found underneath the add message box and will highlight purple once ticked. Once contacted winners will have 1 week to respond before the prize is redrawn.)

There are no hidden platform fees on donations but at checkout website automatically suggests a 15% service charge. If you click the drop down arrow beside it then you can adjust or remove this as you see fit.

Thanks for your support, Emma, Amber & Douglas.

Supporting

Hero Paws SCIO Logo
Hero Paws SCIO

Animals | SC051486

60%

Hero Paws is a registered charity that supports all services that employ working dogs, from Military and Police to civilian sectors such as HMPS, Security, Conservation and Search roles.

SARDA Wales Logo
SARDA Wales

Animals | 506056

40%

SARDA Wales is a specialist Search Dog component of Mountain Rescue and has permanent volunteer Handlers and their dogs providing a search and rescue service to the Police, Mountain Rescue & Coastguard.

Supporters 93

  • A

    8 months, 1 week

    Anonymous

    £ 135.00

    (+£33.75) Gift Aid
  • B

    8 months, 3 weeks

    Becky & Matt

    Well done Em!

    £ 20.00

    (+£5.00) Gift Aid
  • B

    9 months

    Ben

    £ 50.00

    (+£12.50) Gift Aid
  • P

    9 months

    Peter

    Good luck with the challenge.

    £ 6.00

  • L

    9 months

    Lottie May

    Safe journey and best of luck 🐾❤️🐾

    £ 10.00

  • J

    9 months

    Jane Hodgson

    You have done so incredibly well Emma walking with your loyal dog. Walking for a very worthwhile cause. Rest when you can. It’s a tough challenge.

    £ 10.00

  • C

    9 months, 1 week

    Claire Don

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • M

    9 months, 1 week

    Malcolm Williams

    £ 5.00

    (+£1.25) Gift Aid
  • L

    9 months, 1 week

    Leya

    Lovely to speak to you this pm. You're doing brilliantly but take care of your Achilles tendon. My partner strained his and it takes months to recover

    £ 20.00

    (+£5.00) Gift Aid
  • J

    9 months, 1 week

    James Cooper

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • J

    9 months, 1 week

    Joanne Gahan

    HI Emma, great to meet you and Douglas on the first day of your journey on Saturday. Great cause, good luck and keep walking.

    £ 20.00

    (+£5.00) Gift Aid
  • K

    9 months, 1 week

    Katy Richards

    Best of luck and thank you

    £ 5.00

    (+£1.25) Gift Aid
  • A

    9 months, 1 week

    Anonymous

    £ 10.00

  • S

    9 months, 1 week

    Sophie Morgan

    Wishing you all the very best on this journey Emma!! Keep going lovely!!

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • S

    9 months, 1 week

    Sarah

    Great to meet you and Doug on your way from Hay to Kington…..Good luck with the rest of your journey 🐾

    £ 10.00

  • H

    9 months, 1 week

    Hoyes

    Good luck and keep going. I love what you are doing for these incredible retired working dogs

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • B

    9 months, 1 week

    Barney

    It was lovely to meet you and Doug on your day 1 to Monmouth. Wishing you all the best for the rest of your trek 👍

    £ 20.00

    (+£5.00) Gift Aid
  • D

    9 months, 1 week

    Douglas Coulter

    Have fun! 🐾 x

    £ 10.00

  • M

    9 months, 1 week

    Meru and Malcolm

    £ 30.00

    (+£7.50) Gift Aid
  • D

    9 months, 1 week

    Diane and Kevin Millward

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • M

    9 months, 1 week

    Melvyn Spicer

    Good luck

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • L

    9 months, 1 week

    Lucy Carlyon

    £ 5.00

    (+£1.25) Gift Aid
  • L

    9 months, 1 week

    Lynne Manghra

    My grandson is just joining up and hopes to work with these dogs. They do a wonderful job, well done guys an good luck.

    £ 20.00

  • J

    9 months, 1 week

    James Morrison

    £ 10.00

    (+£2.50) Gift Aid
  • J

    9 months, 1 week

    Jonny Martland

    Keep up the good work 💪 x

    £ 10.00

36%

£1,776.51

+ £280.25 Gift Aid

£5,000 target | 93 supporters

£250.00

 Offline donations

Charities Supporting

Hero Paws SCIO

60%

SARDA Wales

40%