A MUM from Dursley took on one of the most difficult treks in the world – traversing the tough terrain of the Icelandic south coast to raise funds for a blindness charity.

Kirstie Preece, 39, of Somerset Avenue, took on the 55km Laugavegur Trail with her friend Paul Brown, of Lincolnshire, to raise money for RP Fighting Blindness.

The trek, which spanned across five days, paired people who have degenerative eye disorders, like Paul, with people who are fully-sighted. Those able to see fully acted in a guide capacity.

“It was absolutely amazing. There was a great team spirit because of the trust levels the non-sighted guys had to place in the members of the group who could see,” Kirstie told the Gazette.

“And the weather was absolutely stunning. A lot of people over there said they’d never had weather like it.

“On the last night when we were given the debrief a lot of the group were brought to tears. I made a lot of friends and we’ve been in touch since returning from the trek.”

Paul was more independent on the trek than many others in the group of 15. This meant Kirstie could help other walkers with more extreme loss of sight. She said she worked on her powers of description to help convey some of the beautiful sights on the challenge to those unable to see them.

Kirstie previously told the Gazette about RP Fighting blindness and how money raised (she hopes to go beyond the £3,250 target) will help people like Paul.

“The charity we’re walking for is looking into medical research with the hope there may be a cure to conditions like Paul’s, but also finding out how those conditions can be treated in the short-term.”

Paul’s problem is debilitating, and he currently has no peripheral vision. This has a dramatic impact on his life, including rendering him unable to legally drive, in addition to other general problems in his day to day life.

Positive news in the world of eye health arrived at a recent conference, where it was announced major headway was being made in the fight against degenerative eye disorders and new treatments or even cures could be developed in the space of four or five years.

If you would like to support RP Fighting Blindness on Kirstie's behalf visit justgiving.com/KPseventfulyear.