1. Introduction

Hello, my name is Adrian, and I have something called cerebral palsy. My mission is to educate people about cerebral palsy and inspire other teenagers with cerebral palsy that they can do anything they put their minds to.

2. What is cerebral palsy?

CP is a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to maintain balance and posture. It affects a person's muscles due to spasticity and is one of the most common motor disabilities in childhood. CP affects the cerebral cortex, which helps with balance and co-ordination. In people with cerebral palsy, the cerebral cortex is damaged.

3. How cerebral palsy affects me.

For me, I find walking and balancing harder due to the tightness in my muscles. People thought that I: would never walk; never talk; and would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.

4. My challenge

I am going to climb a mountain! 

This is extremely difficult for people with cerebral palsy, but I want to prove that I can do it, and show other people that they can do it and overcome challenges and barriers too.

I have started training by climbing up Almscliffe Crag, a mini-mountain, and Ilkley Moor. I enjoyed it, as you can see in the picture - the views were amazing!

The plan is to climb up Great Whernside, which is in the Yorkshire Dales. The elevation of Great Whernside is 704 metres tall. My route will include a steep climb of 170 metres.

I feel a bit nervous about this because I have never done anything like this before. I've got a lot of willpower, faith and determination to complete my challenge.

5. How I overcame my barriers?

To me, when I saw how humungous Almscliffe Crag appeared, it stunned me. It looked like an impossible challenge. But I was able to do it with all my willpower and determination. I had never done anything like this before, so therefore I felt immensely proud of my huge accomplishment. This has given me the confidence that I can climb a real mountain.

6. The musical story behind the challenge

I've always wanted to learn to play the guitar and have a guitar of my own, but I have never had the opportunity to learn. Just recently, I had my first guitar lesson, and it was superb. This inspired me to start this Justgiving page to buy my first guitar.

7. Cerebral Palsy Teens UK

When I started my Justgiving  page, I stumbled upon CP Teens UK. When I found the website, I got hooked on the idea of raising money for them to help other kids with cerebral palsy. Rather than raising money for my guitar I have set my sights on raising at least £200 for CP Teens UK instead.