On the morning of 21 of September 2013, the world changed for our family when our gorgeous son Simon was killed from a fall on his descent from the summit of Mont Blanc. He was only 30 years old, and the most incredible man, son and brother.  He lived his life to the full, travelled the world, loved with all his heart, and loved helping other people – particularly those who wanted to help themselves.  It’s impossible to believe he is gone, but Ray and I will always be so proud to call him our son.   We are committed to doing him, ourselves and our family proud, and keeping his spirit alive.

Our family and Si’s closest friends set up the Simon Bates Foundation to honour his wonderful life, and to help people to better their own.  This is his legacy.  So far we’ve helped some fantastic charities including Tiny Lives, Daft as a Brush cancer care, and Cruse Bereavement.  We want to continue to help more incredibly worthwhile causes like these.  

This weekend one of our daughters, Nicky, persuaded us to take part in the Ponteland triathlon – in ordinary circumstances we would not have aspired to compete in a triathlon, but we have always believed that it’s important in life to try to make a difference for other people.  We would love you to sponsor us so that we can continue to contribute to worthwhile causes through the Simon Bates Foundation, and feel as though we have made a difference to people's futures.  Thank you very much for taking the time to visit our Just Giving page, and from Ray, myself and the rest of our family, a huge THANK YOU for your support.