First of all can I just say thank you for showing an interest and reading this page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

I've signed myself up to take part in a challenge organised by the Fine & Country Foundation to climb Kilimanjaro which, at 5,895 m, is the world's tallest freestanding mountain. The 6 day trek in October will take us through rain forests, moorlands, and lunar desert before reaching the ice fields & the highest point in Africa, whilst camping out in tents along the way. The summit day itself is expected to be the most gruelling with at least 11-15 hours of walking, starting in the pitch-black at midnight, then hopefully several hours later catching a lovely sunrise before heading back down to lower, sustainable levels.     

Unlike my previous 24 hour Three Peaks Challenge, walking to the top of Kili will be completely outside my comfort zone and quite possibly take me beyond my physical capabilities. Climbers normally experience every conceivable weather condition with temperatures potentially soaring to 45C in the highland desert and plummet to -20/25c on the summit. According to the internet 60-70% of climbers succeed and 77% experience acute mountain sickness (AMS).

So why am I doing it? Aside from raising money for this excellent charity I admit the allure and spirituality of the personal challenge, seeing the amazing raw beauty of the tallest mountain on the African continent with the sun rising on summit day and because I think my Dad would have loved to have done it, were all too much for me not to give it a go!

In doing this it will help fund the construction of a center for
homeless children and young people for skills training and education in
Moshi, a remote village at the base of Kilimanjaro.

About the Charity

There is a fantastic team who clearly make a difference to the lives of their local community. They primarily work with women and orphans, but extend their support to vulnerable children too. Many have lost parents and close relatives to HIV/AIDS so their focus is to reduce poverty, educate and promote practices for sustainable development such as entrepreneurship programmes and life skills training.

I will update you more on the project and my preparation/training as we move closer to the climb.

Thank you for helping me make a difference.

Paul