Woman's 1,000-mile tuk-tuk trek to become TV film

A woman who completed a 1,000-mile tuk-tuk race across India is to feature in a TV documentary about her adventure.

Amanda Hitchin from Colchester said she took a "leap of faith" to join 40 other women from all over the world for the week-long charity ride from Chennai to Goa.

The 37-year-old therapist teamed up with other female entrepreneurs to drive a procession of the small three-wheeled vehicles, which are popular taxis throughout south-east Asia.

Their trip was captured by a TV crew for a 40-minute documentary, which will be released in September.

Amanda, who is the founder of Colchester Children's Counselling Service, said she had never really travelled a lot before embarking on the "life-changing" challenge.

And she said her first training sessions on the tuk-tuks left her terrified.

"The first morning of the challenge I actually woke up with quite a lot of dread," she said.

"I was like, 'have I really signed myself up for something that I'm not sure I can do?'."

The team joined forces with the Ladies Circle India and Round Table India hoping to raise £350,000 to help girls in Goa into education and help women into the workforce.

The tuk-tuk race, from 2-8 March, is the latest fundraising adventure by the Sisterhood, a group of female businesswomen who since 2006 have taken on extreme physical challenges to break down barriers and raise money for charity.

Their previous adventures include swimming the English Channel, running the 26-mile Marathon des Sables in the Sahara Desert, climbing Kilimanjaro and trekking to Everest base camp.

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