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Lisa Dainton, 31, who has been blind since birth, has taken up the challenge to raise money for the charity National Talking Newspapers, for which she works as a sound recordist at their studios in Healthfield, East Sussex. The charity produces recorded selections from newspapers and magazines for blind and visually impaired people.
"I want to show sighted people what blind people can do and encourage other blind people to try new things," says Lisa, who can only identify some colours and outlines. She has already undertaken a parachute jump to raise funds for her charity.
As part of her training for the Arctic journey, she worked out to exercise tapes at her home in Leaf Road, Eastbourne.
See Lisa's Arctic Picture Gallery
In April 2002 she left for Kiruna, northern Sweden, with 52-year-old Maggie Healy, wo lives in the nearby village of Bishopstne near Seaford, and works as fundraising coordinator for National Talking Newpapers.
After a final day's training in Kiruna, thy took part in a four-day journey towards te borders of Norway and Finland with other participants in the Arctic adventure.
When conditions allowed and with the support of Jason, the expedition leader, Lisa took control of the eight-strong team of huskies. "I was told one golden rule," she says. "Never let go of the huskies once they've got going. I managed to han on to them!"
"The huskie's exciement at the prospect of a good day's sledding peaks with a chors of howling dogs straining to start pulling across the Arctic wilderness. This was no exaggeration. They even understod my Swedish accent for the mushing commands."
The pair kept audio diaries and Lisa also used her digital audio recorder to create her own version of the story. She enjoyed being involved in feeding and harnessing the dogs and helped with the catering and chores at the lodge.
Lisa has registered her attempt with Guinness World Records and is well on the way to her sponsorship target of £15,000.
Further details from Maggie Healy Tel: 01435 866102. E-mail: maggie@tnauk.org.uk.
Lisa's Chilly Arctic Challenge was co-ordinated by the Disabled Living Foundation and she was supported in her mushing attempt by expedition leader, Jason de Carteret, of Across the Divide. It took place from April 13-17, 2002.
Lisa's achievements were two-fold. She not only raised money for visually impaired and disabled people, she was open to new experiences, learned a whole range of new skills and proved herself equal to the demands of living in and travelling across a harsh wilderness environment.
Working alongside sighted participants, she has showed that given the opportunity and with appropriate support, blind and partially sighted people can tackle activities which have elements of risk. Charity challenges are founded on this spirit of adventure, and Lisa's successful mushing expedition has paved the way to greater involvement for those with sight loss.
With this in mind, National Talking Newspapers is investigating the possibility of running a special charity challenge for 2003, and visually impaired participants would be welcome to participate.
If you would like to take part in a charity challenge to raise funds for National Talking Newspaper Services, please contact Maggie Healy on 01435 866102 or maggie@tnauk.org.uk.
National Talking Newspapers would like to thank the following for their help in promoting and supporting Lisa Dainton's Chilly Arctic Challenge:
If you are interested in finding out more about how you can help the Talking Newspaper Association UK then please click here.
If you would like more information about this story, please telephone 01435 866102. Alternatively email info@tnauk.org.uk.
TNAUK Registered charity number: 293656
© Copyright Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom