A RUN ON THE WILD SIDE

Our society editor at large, the Marchioness of Bath, shakes off a hip injury for a wilderness adventure with her husband and sons in support of the Tusk conservation charity

- EMMA THYNN

Last month, HELLO!’s society editor at large, the Marchioness of Bath, flew to Kenya with her family – her husband, Ceawlin, the Marquess of Bath, and their sons, John, ten, and eight-year-old Henry – to take part in the annual Lewa Safari Marathon for the Tusk charity, of which she is an ambassador. Battling with an old hip injury meant it was a challenge even before she landed in Nairobi. Here, she recounts her running journey and what an unforgettable, incredible trip it was for them...

I am so proud to be an ambassador for Tusk, which together with its royal patron, the Prince of Wales, has been supporting successful conservation work in Africa since the 1990s.

Longleat, our family home in Wiltshire, which features a safari park, has supported the charity for more than 20 years, and it was wonderful to meet Prince William at the Tusk awards in London last November with my husband Ceawlin and our good friends Ronnie and Sally Wood.

The prince spoke so passionately about the rangers and the inspiring achievements made by the Tusk team, and it was a pleasure to chat with him about the various conservation projects we are doing at Longleat, such as our IVF programme to save the northern white rhino from extinction, and our ongoing partnership with this incredible charity.

Tusk truly is a part of life at Longleat. Every autumn, we give a talk on conservation to schoolchildren with Longleat keepers, who usually bring along a tarantula and snake, much to the delight of the audience. During half term, we had the incredible naturalist Steve Backshall doing live shows with some great animals making cameos with him, including a Southeast Asian binturong, or bear cat – and all proceeds went to Tusk.