TWO South Lakeland walking friends will be taking part in a trek to help improve lives of children in some of the poorest parts of Pakistan.

David Le Mare and Eileen Waddington, who both live in Kendal, will be walking in the Gilgit area for eight days in aid of The Abeseen Foundation, a small charity which works in the north west province of Khyber Pakhtunhwa to provide education and healthcare for children.

"We have been in awe of the work the charity does, and want to support it by doing this trek," said David.

Floods, earthquakes, and global terrorism have resulted in north western Pakistan being one of the most destitute and dangerous areas in the world and the foundation aims to relieve this as much as possible, placing special emphasis on educating girls.

"I have been involved in the work of the charity for several years and have been very impressed by its achievements particularly working with communities to extend educational opportunities to girls in the area," said Eileen.

"There is a saying which has really stuck with me: 'If you educate a man, you educate one person. If you educate a woman, you educate a nation.'"

The trekkers will be embarking their journey near the borders of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and China and will visit some of the charity's projects near the city of Peshawar.

David said: "It's also an opportunity to see a part of a world that I wouldn't see otherwise. Pakistan doesn't have the best reputation but it's a beautiful part of the world.

"Hopefully we can come back with stories of the work that the charity does, the people we've met and things that we have seen that will change people's views about the country."

Both ramblers are already looking forward to taking up the Pakistan challenge in mid May.

Together they have already raised nearly £3,000 towards their £5,000 target.

"Our families and our community have been so supportive," said Eileen. "We have been blown away by people's generosity. It's not too long now. We have already started training by walking the Lake District fells."

Visit Eileen's fundraising page here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/eileenwaddington1

Visit David's fundraising page here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/davidlemare1