St Albans woman’s Crete charity trek in memory of Grandfather

KATE Lindeman had no idea everyone would be so generous when she decided to walk Crete’s famed Samaria Gorge to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

In the end Kate, who grew up in St Albans and now works as a musical theatre actress in Crete, made nearly �1,700 for the charity in memory of her grandfather who died from MND earlier this year.

And Kate said it was her grandfather who inspired the expedition.

She said: “My grandma, the first thing she said to me was you should walk Samaria Gorge. It was something my grandfather had never done but wanted to do.

“I was out here when he passed away and I thought it would be a really great way to raise some money for the MND association.”

So with some friends Kate embarked on the 18km, day-long trek along the largely makeshift route with not a little trepidation.

But it was worth the effort. Kate said: “It was amazing. It was hard work, even being relatively fit from doing shows at night.”

And she added the cause, raising money for MND, was especially close to her heart, given how it had affected her active grandfather.

“It’s so brutal in terms of what it does to people. For someone like my granddad that was horrible.”

For more information about MND or to donate visit mndassociation.org