THE story of a remarkable woman from Penrith and her hiking group is to be celebrated at a film event at Rheged.

Amira Patel moved from Bolton to Penrith to pursue a career in the great outdoors; within the lakes and mountains of Cumbria she created a hiking and adventure group for Muslim women.

Three years on, this became a full-time job for Amira, founder of The Wanderlust Women, who has led expeditions as far afield as Morocco and the Himalayas and inspired many Muslim women to climb mountains, wild water swim, rock climb, paddle board, surf and mountain bike.

Many of these adventures have been captured on film, which will be screened in the Wanderlust Women’s first ever film festival on Friday, December 16 on the big screen at Rheged.

Amira Patel said: “My aim is to encourage Muslim women and women from ethnic minorities to have the skills and confident to explore the British countryside and normalise Muslim women exploring our landscape.

“Our film festival evening at Rheged is open to everyone and will gives the audience a chance to see the Wanderlust Women adventures since the group was created in 2020.

“We want the evening to be as much about conversations with people from all backgrounds as sharing experiences and questions from the audience will be very welcomed."

Amira has recently returned from a solo expedition in the Himalayas which is set to be released as a film at a later date.

This evening is a chance for the audience to hear about the expeditions from Amira first-hand ahead of the film release.

Amira will be joined by her colleagues Aysha, Amina and Shareen who will provide a special introduction to each film.

The four films will include the award-winning 'The Wanderlust Women' film which has received the Best film BMC Women in Adventure award, plus 'I am Capable', 'Wild Camping' and 'Sisterhood – Journey to Toubkal'.

The latter documents a recent expedition - the first British Muslim female-only group to summit Toubkal.

The Wanderlust Women, who been featured in the Guardian, BBC and ITV, also provide training to ensure the members have the skills to explore the outdoors, from advice on equipment to navigation courses.

Amira will continue to seek out new experiences and training for the Wanderlust Women and is also working with outdoor clothing companies to enhance the design of the equipment.

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