2 work colleagues, multiple fears, a few crazy ideas and one EPIC challenge! 

CLARA: I love a challenge and love raising money for charity;
I’ve run a half marathon and then hobbled the London marathon so
the next logical challenge seemed to be to climb a mountain in Nepal.

Whilst the trek itself is going to be hard going, it is my
fear of heights and public facilities that is going to be tested to the max
with high suspension bridges to cross and even worse, hole in the ground VERY
basic toilet facilities! The fact that ‘loo roll’ and ‘nappy bags’ are on the
‘what to pack list’ has filled me with genuine dread!

In order to raise funds I will be pushing myself out of my comfort zone of Netflix and wine on a regular basis to help reach our fundraising target! I’ll be tackling heights and obstacle courses (I’m also scared of enclosed spaces, deep water and worms so the Wolf Run will prove interesting!).  I’ll also be carrying out numerous tasks in a tiger onesie trying to get strangers to part with their cash. This will include carwashes, general bucket shaking and trying to overcome my typically British politeness of asking for people for things.

Cats Protection is a charity that I am fortunate to both work for, volunteer for, and feel incredibly proud to be part of. Every day I see the hard work at Birmingham Adoption Centre that goes into helping around 1000 abandoned cats a year find happy new homes. This includes the daily care they receive when with us, vet treatment, desensitisation of our nerves cats and socialisation of our kittens, all to ensure every cat goes on to have the happy life they deserve. I am lucky enough to have homed two CP cats and it’s these little furry family members that will keep reminding why I’m doing this when I’m leaving the house in a tiger onesie for another day raising funds!

SARAH: This whole challenge is a biggy for me. It is going to take so far out of my comfort zone it’s unbelievable. For one I absolutely hate flying so getting there alone is going to be a challenge in itself and for a very long time I have only left the house to go to work and the shops.

10 years ago I had to have spine surgery after a disc exploded in my back so to go trekking over different terrains in a changeable climate, trekking for up to 8 hours a day plus the odd few suspension bridges thrown in fills my head with steer horror. But I love the job I do and love the charity I work for so this will keep me going knowing what I raise will go a long way in helping many more cats in the future.

I have worked for Cats Protection for 21 years and even though I have been involved in lots of fundraising events over the years like doing a fire walk over hot coals, last year I thought to celebrate my 21^st year it should be a huge fundraising effort. It’s kind of like giving something back to Cats Protection for letting me work for them in the best job in the world for the past 21 years.

I will also do this challenge in memory of my beloved cat Princess Luby who I had from Cats Protection and who was tragically killed 3 years ago.  I was broken for a very long time after her death so I will climb the mountain in honour of her.

So now the challenge begins. For the next two years in every spare moment I have I will be doing things like tin shaking, doing a wolf run, early morning car boot sales, sponsored walks – A lot of the time wearing a tiger onesie. As well as this I will need to train to get fit to be able to do the trek so this will mean lots of hillwalking and giving up my favourite things like beer and pizza. Considering my favourite place is my bed and I’m
extremely lazy on my days off this is going to blow my mind. But for the love of helping cats I will take on this challenge.

OUR CHALLENGE: The first 5 days of the trip involves a challenging trek (their words not ours – eek!) with the highest altitude of 3400m across various terrains of stony trails, muddy forest floors, rocky steps and suspension bridges (arghhh), staying in basic teahouses along the way.

We then spend 3 days at Bardia National Park, which represents the Tiger Conservation Unit (TUC), in our time there we will be engaging in a tiger awareness programme with the local community and hopefully catch a glimpse of these beautiful big cats.

Any sponsorship of the usual cash type donating kind would amazing but as we’re going to have to be a little imaginative in our fundraising the following would also be really appreciated:

Items to sell at car boot sales
Anything tiger related you no longer want - toys, books, ornaments that we can sell
Your wonderful imagination to come up with some quirky attention grabbing ideas to raise funds
Your baking skills for when we hold events
Your time to help support our crazy ideas
General support to remind us why we're doing this when we're training up a damp and soggy hill in the Midlands!

The money raised will be for Birmingham Adoption Centre where we are both based. Every cat that leaves our centre has had a full health check, is neutered, microchipped and had at least it’s first vaccination and that can cost £150 per cat! That is before food, heating, bedding, toys and further medical treatment are taken into account.

The funds raised from our challenge will go directly to Birmingham Adoption Centre so we can see the difference the funds make directly. We both know the difference made will be well worth facing the challenges we have a head.