This trek is going to have a combination of meanings for me. I will be fundraising in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care who I believe are an unbelievable team and deserve so much support. They were very much there for a close family friend when she needed some help and care. A grandparent of mine also was looked after considerable amounts when he became ill. Cancer care is a cause I will always feel a strong desire to support in any way that I can, and how better to do that than to push myself to the absolute limit by climbing the formidable Kilimanjaro.

I am not an avid trekker, I do not partake frequently in long hikes and it has been quite a long time since I last reached a summit of any kind. I like to try and keep active when I can and enjoy activities such as snowboarding and swimming. This will be a completely alien experience for me but I'm so excited about taking part and if conquered it will be a fantastic personal achievement too.

I will have 10 days to climb up and down the 5,895 meters of Kilimanjaro from 13th - 22nd June 2013 with a team of 25 - 30 other adventurous people. I will be raising half the complete amount myself, while all of your donations will be going straight to Marie Curie. We will have a fantastic team with us consisting of a team leaders and assistents, locals that will carry our camping equipment, and a doctor. We should all be trekking for 6 days and nights in order to reach the summit. It's been organised for mid-June as this should mean we avoid the rainy season and get the best possible weather conditions throughout the challenge.

I’m hoping to make my journey leading up to the trek fun and enjoyable, but with a lot of hard work. Therefore, if anyone has any ideas of challenges or just a suggestion for something funny they’d like to see me take part in within Somerset then please do send me a message and I'll see what I can do! Equally if any of my sponsors have anything they’d like me to take to the summit on their behalf (providing it isn’t something like a camel) then send it to me and I’ll snap it once I reach the top! I’d love to get all of you taking part in this experience with me because I feel something this monumental deserves to be shared and enjoyed by all of you. I will be updating my progress with pictures and maybe some videos, which will give you a good idea of how well prepared I will be leading up to the climb.

I would like to thank everybody for taking the time to check out my JustGiving page, and hope you can find some way however small of sponsoring me to get through this challenge. I can’t do it without you

Elaine  Xxxxxx