Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving 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. 

In 2020 our world was turned upside down when our daughter, Isla, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes just 4 days after starting secondary school. For those who don't know, Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disease where the body attacks and kills it's own pancreas, causing no production of insulin - which regulates blood sugar levels. It is so serious, it's classed as a life threatening, Critical Illness and up until only 100 years ago, every single person who got Type 1 Diabetes died! It's not something you can recover or get better from. Type 1 is not caused by eating too many sugary things or having an unhealthy diet - this is Type 2 and is easily managed as the pancreas is still working. But in Isla's case, without insulin, she would die. 

We work very hard to give her the right amount of insulin every single day. This involves carefully counting the carbs in every single thing she eats and drinks and then trying to decide when the carbs will hit the body to then try and get the timing to match when the insulin hits the blood stream. Too much insulin and she could go into a coma and not enough she could have a heart attack or a stroke. It's imperative that she keeps her blood sugar levels under control, or she will suffer later in life with things like - kidney damage, loss of limbs and eyesight, among many other things.

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) have been there every step of the way. From diagnosis to ongoing support and regular check ups to make sure Isla remains alive and as well as possible. They were also instrumental in helping us get the funding for the expensive machines that keep Isla alive! Without her pump she would still be on 10+ injections per day.

I am not a cyclist or a climber, but I want to do something that will challenge me as every day challenges Isla. So I decided on doing the 3 Peaks challenge with a twist - the twist being that I bike between them instead of driving and do the hardest ridge on each. 

I will start by climbing the 16km (10m) CMD Arete ridge on the highest UK mountain - Ben Nevis in Scotland, ascending 1520m (4980ft) above sea level. After around 8 hours of climbing, I'll get straight onto the bike and start the 245 mile bike ride to the next peak of Helvelyn. We've chosen Helvelyn over Scafell Pike, because although it's not quite as high, it has a spectacular route up via the Striding Edge. It's 11km to the top, 950m above sea level and around 7 hours of climbing. Once complete, it's back on the bike to Mount Snowden. After a short 196 miles, I'll be at the base of the final climb. The last route I take will be the 7.5 hour, 11.5km Horseshoe, which includes the infamous Crib Goch ridge. After hitting the apex at 1,143m, I hope to skip, sing and jump all the way down to complete my challenge!!! 🥳

Funding for small charities such as JDRF can be overlooked at times when cost of living is increasing, which is why it's so important to donate more than ever. What they do is invaluable for families like us, so I want to give something back for them to continue their research into finding a work around and who knows, maybe a cure for Type 1 Diabetes!! Without donations they wouldn't be able to continue their amazing work.