My girlfriend Jane has been insulin dependant (type 1) diabetic since the age of two. I see how hard it is for her, even with the specialist care we recieve in the UK, and I want to help others less fortunate.  I aim to raise £961.23 to provide insulin, test strips, test meter and syringes which will keep a child in Ecuador alive for a year.  There is no NHS there and the country is very poor, kids are dying all the time.

The Matterhorn in Zermatt, Switzerland  is a serious affair for any climber, and this will not be no walk in the park, more than 500 people have died trying to reach the summit of this beautiful mountain.  Summit day will be the hardest physically gruelling day of my life, and as an ex British Forces Soldier I know what I am talking about.

You can donate using the button up there.. and you can also donate via text (free in the uk) by sending ROYS70 £5 (or whatever amount) to 70070.

Imagine being a parent who is so poor you struggle or simply can't afford the insulin to keep your child alive.  Imagine how the child must feel knowing it's family go hungry because it needs insulin.  No parent or child should be in this situation.  Diabetes is the number one cause of preventable death in this poverty stricken country. Hundreds and thousands are dying each year.  Ecuador is a wild Andean country at the top of South America. It is riddled with crime, chronic corruption, political instability, and civil unrest. Despite many pleas over many years there is still no government sponsored help for diabetics.

This all came about after I literally had a vision in a dream of the Matterhorn, a mountain I had never even seen a picture of before.  When I googled it, the view from the start of the climb proper was what I had seen in my dream.  Since then there have been a catalogue of strange co-incidences and peculiar paths that have led me to where I am now. 

Jane and I went to the Swiss Alps in 2010 so I could climb the Matterhorn solo.  I am a complete alpine novice but despite this and my bi-polar disorder, agoraphobia with panic attacks and generalised anxiety disorder I trained, lost a few spare kilos from my waist, saved for two years, bought the gear, was confident and "proper up for it."  However, at 3260m where I met experienced alpinists who had abandoned their attempts because of avalanches, hailstorms and rockfall, I realised I too had to turn around.  The mountain just said no.  I told myself and listened to friends say "better to go back another year, the mountain is going nowhere" but I was gutted, and felt like I had somehow failed.   

Now I am returning mid August to finish the job.  Incredibly, after hearing of mine and Jane’s fundraising effort (and my previous attempt of the Matterhorn), one of Britain’s best climbers, world-renowned extreme alpinist and big wall climber Jerry Gore, who is also type1, kindly offering his time, at his own expense, putting himself in considerable danger to “take me to the top”.  I will also be going into considerable debt myself for this cause.  Any donation however small will, and I mean it actually really WILL have a marked impact on quality of life for these children and their families. 

Jerry sets himself challenges each year to raise money for Insulinforlife.org who are the Australian registered arm of the Insulin Dependant Diabetes Trust, and who run the Ecuador Project I have set this page up for.  Jerry's big challenge for this year is the South West Face of the South Tower of Paine, the biggest unclimbed wall in Patagonia. http://www.facebook.com/WallOfPaine.

This has all came about quickly, and I only have a month to get as fit as I can manage, and it's going to be a real struggle once I get to altitude.  It will all be worth it though when I stand on that summit and think that in a far away place a child will get that much needed help and insulin to survive.  

Thanks for reading, please dig deep for this great lifesaving cause, and if you can't afford to donate much now, remember to come back on pay day ;)

All the best, Roy