Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.

UPDATE 23rd July:   Thank you again to all those who've helped me so far. Hugely appreciative, and with only 7 weeks to go time is moving incredibly quickly . Having had a few weeks out of action with a chest cold I'm now back in training with a vengeance. The 3 C's (with a few hardy friends) had a training weekend in the Brecon Beacons in Wales last weekend, and did a couple of fantastic walks - a long and steadily climbing one on the Saturday, and then a shorter and (much!) steeper walk on the Sunday before the drive back to London. 

I'm back in the Brecons for a long weekend this weekend also, so am looking forward to getting to see more of the beautiful countryside on the 'long and hard' walks. Interspersed by horse-riding and a bit of dancing. Have to vary the exercise of course! The stair climbing is going well and I can now almost get to the 10th floor without dying, an improvement on a couple of months ago but I need to be able to do it comfortably (well, that's the theory anyway!).

UPDATE 12th June: A huge Thank You to all those who have sponsored me so far, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity shown by you all. Wow.
In response I thought I'd give you an idea of what I've been up to - training wise - in the last few weeks...

Last weekend in May was obviously the Lake District, in which I walked probably 20 miles over the two days. A nice warm up. 

I then had a gap while I did other stuff, before coming back to it with a vengeance last weekend - with Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters (12 miles, up and down 7 times!) last Saturday, and the Vale of the White Horse in Uffington (about 10 miles) on the Sunday.

This weekend I'll be spending in Wales - Pembrokeshire - where I'll be doing the 'long and hard' walks (although I might be tempted yet by the pretty lily pad walk). I'll let you know how it goes! 

I've also got a colleague at work who's keen on developing my 'training programme' (sounds painful) which will be good as the next couple of weekends I'll be focusing on my lifting techniques as I pack to move flats.

Thanks again, and check back soon for the next exciting update!



There must have been something in the water in the Lake District in May, because I went from thinking it an utterly crazy idea, to signing up.

This is the 3 Peaks Challenge I'm talking about...climbing the 3 highest mountains in the UK in 24 hours, and travelling through three of the UK countries to do so.

Starting in Scotland with Ben Nevis, we then drive to the Lake District in England to climb Scafell Pike (in the dark no less!), before having a quick kip in the bus while we're driven to our last challenge in Wales, Snowdon.  We finish in time to have a celebratory breakfast (breakfast?!!!!) before heading back to London.

For more information on the Meningitis Trust, and the walk, follow the weblink.....
http://www.meningitis-trust.org/walking/24hr-Three-Peaks-Challenge.html

I have to admit I was naive before I looked at their website - I thought "you got Meningitis; you lived, or you died". More importantly, I thought that if you lived, you were ok. If nothing else, if this does nothing other than make you aware, as it did me, of the range of disabilities (permanent brain damage, hearing / sight loss) that survivors live with then I feel I've helped.   I have no particular affiliation with the Meningitis Trust, but am very happy to be supporting them.

I'll be doing lots more walks and weekends away before then to get the mileage up, and will need to do daft things like having to do the 'long and hard' walks, and maybe carry more gear to build stamina (isn't that what horses have?).

I'm doing this with Carrie (who got me into this in the first place), and Craig (who I've not yet met but will know well by the end I'm sure), and there'll be a blog and other good techie things to keep up with how it's all going.  I'll update this as we go along.

As well as being worthwhile to support, the Meningitis Trust also happen to be very well organised - they have a minibus and professional guides to get us safely around the course - so they got my vote.  In fact they provide almost everything bar the camels. But that'd take all the fun out of it.

That assistance comes at a price, so the first £150 of your donations (plus my £75 registration fee) pays for the challenge.   I have to reach £400 by mid-August, and ideally I'd like to beat that by at least £150, in order to take part.

So really you're sponsoring me to do something daft (and very worthy), just like in the good old days. Without the Girl Guide biscuits.

So...the easiest way to help me is by donating through Justgiving. It is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Meningitis Trust gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!