On September 4th this year, Gilmorton Village Store proprietor, Alison Plimmer, will be travelling to Morocco to take part in a 100km Sahara Trek to raise money for Acorns Children's Hospice.

Here, in Alison's own words, is the story of why she is taking part:

"Many of you may know that Acorns is very close to my heart, as they did a fantastic job of supporting my family throughout the life of my severely disabled younger brother, Neil. This care and support has continued after his sad death on Christmas Day 2008, and has shown me how important such an organisation is.

Acorns cares for children who are life limited, are unlikely to reach adulthood and who have an illness for which there is no cure. On average one of the children they care for will die each week. Acorns provides respite, emergency and end-of life care in three hospices located across the heart of England, and a dedicated community team offering 24 hour support to the whole family including practical and emotional support for parents, special help for siblings and bereavement counselling.

It currently costs more than £6 million a year to offer this support, there is no charge to the families and Acorns relies on the community, individuals, and groups of supporters to raise this figure to fund its activities.

So, I thought, I've nothing special on in September and I could do with a bit of peace and quiet so I signed up for this Trek. Now the hard part, the fundraising ...

Thanks to all of you who have supported the raffles and competitions we have run already in the shop - to date I have raised just a little over £500. By continuing to buy the odd raffle ticket here or there you are constantly adding to the total. I am planning a book sale (ready for those holiday reads!) and also a Curry & Quiz night, so keep an eye out for details.

The large part of my personal target of £2,500 will come from sponsorship. This is where you good  people come in. If you are able to sponsor me I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sponsor forms are available in the shop or, if you would like to donate online, please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/alisonplimmer. This is a non-profit-making site so all of your donation goes direct to the charity.

No matter how much you are able to donate, every single penny collectively will go directly to help children who need that little bit more T.L.C.

Thank you once again, Alison x"

Here at thebestoflutterworth we are proud to support Alison in this endeavour. It is no small undertaking, as training for the trek takes up a lot of Alison's spare time. Not only does she have her business to run, but she is also mum to two small daughters, so finding the energy and time to put in is far from easy.

We wish Alison every success with the Trek and with her fund-raising efforts - please help her to raise as much as possible.