Trekking through Mongolia

by Rob Smith

Ony Bright, who is 43, has lived in Sheffield over 15 years and as well as being a radio presenter is a Non-Executive Director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

In July this year Ony will begin trekking in Mongolia. “I’ll be taking part in a charity trek which will mean riding on horseback.” Inside the Kingdom of Genghis Khan the charity trek will travel for eight days through the Gorkhi–Terelj National Park.

This trek has been organised by the Anthony Nolan Trust whose role is to maintain a national register of potential bone marrow donors. Explains Ony, “Although a national register they do get requests for bone marrow donors from all over the world.”

All proceeds from the charity trek will be distributed between four different charities. These will be the Anthony Nolan Trust, Aplastic Anaemia Trust, Bluebell Woods Children’s Hospice and the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust.

“Bluebell Woods has been commissioned and will be built for children in need of respite care here in South Yorkshire and the North Midlands,” Ony adds reflecting sadly on how she lost her eldest daughter, Phaedra, nine years ago. Phaedra died at the age of six having suffered from Aplastic Anaemia – a disease of the bone marrow.

“Proceeds from the trek will be distributed to the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust who work to raise the number of donors belonging to African and Caribbean origin. It is due to the low numbers of black donors that those themselves in need of bone marrow transplants are three to four times less likely to find one.”

Not only raising more awareness around these issues, Ony Bright is hoping to raise five thousand pounds to distribute between these charities, in order to help them continue in the work they do.

“I’m reaching out to the people of this community I love dearly, to support me in my quest to raise this money that will help others less fortunate than ourselves.”

To donate money online visit www.justgiving.com/ony1/ (or 2, 3 or 4 – one page for each charity).

Ony Bright also presents a Global Sound World Music show that goes out on BBC Radio Sheffield on Friday evenings between 7pm and 10pm.