I MADE IT!  Amazingly, I managed to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, with a superb group of people.  This arduous trek took me to the top of the world's tallest free-standing mountain - a height of 5895m - known as the ultimate challenge for most trekkers.  At its summit, I could see the curvature of the earth.

My chosen charity is Link Ethiopia - in particular because of its work with young children, helping expand education in Ethiopia, providing resources, as well as working with schools to provide clean water supplies and toilets.  I have two reasons to support Link Ethiopia - firstly, my 18-year old son, Christopher, will be spending five months of his gap year teaching English in an Ethiopian primary school.  Trevor and I hope to visit him during his time there.  My second reason is that I am a governor of Gayhurst School; they are linked to a small primary school called The Jenda School.  Link Ethiopia's projects support over 40,000 people in Ethiopia.

 I cannot describe how hard this challenge was - every step was a struggle, due to the altitude and hours of plodding one foot in front of the other... but like a metaphor for life, every step took us closer to our goal.

Thank you for all your support and good wishes - it meant such a lot to know that so many people were wishing us well and thinking of us.  Your donation will made a huge difference to one of the world's poorest populations.