The Foundation Awareness match against Sunderland marked the beginning of the West Ham United Foundation’s Peru trek fundraising.
The trip, in conjunction with Wilderness Expertise and The Yavari Project, is an exciting personal development expedition to the Peruvian Andes for a team of 16 young people from across east London.
The young trekkers, who come from London's most deprived boroughs and are known to the Foundation, have proved that they can overcome their tough backgrounds and have the potential to become role models in their communities. Throughout the selection process, they showed application, enthusiasm to seize this unique opportunity and are now underway with fundraising and training.
The team's goal is to retrace the footsteps of the Victorian gunboat, Yavari, which was built in 1862 by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co, also the birthplace of West Ham United.
The Yavari was carried piecemeal on mule-back up the Andes to be reassembled on Lake Titicaca 3.810m and the world's highest navigable waterway. The Expedition will see the young Hammers trekking over mountainous passes and crossing the wild, windswept altiplano (high plateau) only populated by remote peasant communities and their alpacas.
14 days later they will arrive in Puno where they will engage in football coaching, sharing their passion for the sport with the local young people and taking the name of West Ham United with them.
The experience will test leadership and team skills, stamina and tolerance in foreign and demanding conditions. It will provide a mental and physical challenge, a cultural exchange and endorse the historic link between the communities of West Ham, London with Lake Titicaca, Peru.
As well as hosting a variety of fundraising events, including a sponsored London stadium orienteering journey, various football tournaments and much more, these local young people need your help!
To help them fund this trip of a lifetime - donate to their JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/peru-yavari-trekkers
For additional information on the trek and West Ham United's affiliation, visit the Yavari expedition website - www.peruyavariexpedition.com
The trip, in conjunction with Wilderness Expertise and The Yavari Project, is an exciting personal development expedition to the Peruvian Andes for a team of 16 young people from across east London.
The young trekkers, who come from London's most deprived boroughs and are known to the Foundation, have proved that they can overcome their tough backgrounds and have the potential to become role models in their communities. Throughout the selection process, they showed application, enthusiasm to seize this unique opportunity and are now underway with fundraising and training.
The team's goal is to retrace the footsteps of the Victorian gunboat, Yavari, which was built in 1862 by the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co, also the birthplace of West Ham United.
The Yavari was carried piecemeal on mule-back up the Andes to be reassembled on Lake Titicaca 3.810m and the world's highest navigable waterway. The Expedition will see the young Hammers trekking over mountainous passes and crossing the wild, windswept altiplano (high plateau) only populated by remote peasant communities and their alpacas.
14 days later they will arrive in Puno where they will engage in football coaching, sharing their passion for the sport with the local young people and taking the name of West Ham United with them.
The experience will test leadership and team skills, stamina and tolerance in foreign and demanding conditions. It will provide a mental and physical challenge, a cultural exchange and endorse the historic link between the communities of West Ham, London with Lake Titicaca, Peru.
As well as hosting a variety of fundraising events, including a sponsored London stadium orienteering journey, various football tournaments and much more, these local young people need your help!
To help them fund this trip of a lifetime - donate to their JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/peru-yavari-trekkers
For additional information on the trek and West Ham United's affiliation, visit the Yavari expedition website - www.peruyavariexpedition.com