Aisling Garland, from Malahide, and Lydia Burns, initially from Waterford however residing in Dublin for the previous variety of years, met by their work on the animal charity.
They are taking over the problem of climbing the tallest mountain in Africa on January 17, in partnership with Earth’s Edge, which gives trekking and mountaineering expeditions around the globe.
“We’re actually doing it with Dermot Whelan, former Today FM presenter,” Lydia mentioned.
“I saw he announced he was doing it in the summer; he was my calm in 2020 when anxiety was at an all-time high during the pandemic, and his mindfulness tips and meditations really helped me.
“I thought to myself, I’m approaching 30, and this is the best time to do it.”
Lydia’s colleague and buddy Aisling, who works alongside her as a canine carer at Dogs Trust, determined to affix her for the journey.
Aisling mentioned she’d take into account the 2 of them to be match folks, however predicted the climb will probably be “more of a mental challenge than a physical one”.
Roughly 19 to twenty individuals who signed up to participate within the climb will probably be working collectively to succeed in the mountain’s summit, which stands at 5,896 metres.
Lydia and Aisling have been getting ready themselves by overlaying many of the Wicklow Way and Carlingford, however added they “can’t skip a leg day” within the run-up to the problem.
Lydia described their work with Dogs Trust as being a really “hands-on role”.
The Dogs Trust employees are taking over the problem of Kilimanjaro this month
“We’re there from 8am; we walk them, feed them, medicate them, and it’s really just all hands-on deck,” she mentioned.
“It’s a very physical job, and there’s not a day in the week where our muscles aren’t completely fatigued coming home; we usually just fall into bed.”
Almost 4,000 folks contacted Dogs Trust in 2023 to surrender their canine into the charity’s care, the best determine since 2009. There are at present 216 dogs within the care of Dogs Trust Ireland.
“We are so grateful that we’re two people that can say we love our job. We love going to work every day because we actually get to make a difference in a dog’s life,” Lydia mentioned.
“This is clearly not a job you do for the money because animal welfare is not that type of career.”
Aisling added that what retains them going is “the bonds they’ve created with the dogs”.
“I would count them as my own dogs because of how much I love them, and seeing nervous dogs who come in very fearful slowly gaining confidence is so wonderful to see,” she mentioned.
“With the number of surrenders and all of the sad stories we see, when you see one of your dogs get a home and thrive, it is truly amazing and keeps us going every day to see one success story.”
They determined to launch a GoFundMe to boost important funds for the animal charity, which has “a special place in their hearts”. The fundraiser has already reached €1,605 with the preliminary objective of €200.
“We are so surprised by the generosity of people,” Aisling mentioned.
