Between 23rd and 28th January I'll be attempting to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro and hoping to raise £4,000 for Help For Heroes in the process. At 5,895m (19,341ft), Kilimanjaro is the world's highest free-standing mountain and is the 4th most prominent mountain in the world.

To make sure that you're not just paying for a nice holiday for Ted, I've donated £2,000 myself to get the ball rolling. 

Help for Heroes provides practical direct support to those servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.  With your help we can make a difference to those members of the forces that have returned from Operational tours with injuries and aid them in their rehabilitation.

For more information on Help for Heroes please go to: www.helpforheroes.org.uk

Thank you for your sponsorship it is greatly appreciated.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Day 1 Sunday 23rd January

All going well, inc the new boots. Walked from 1800 - 3000m in lovely sunshine through jungle. Taking things slowly to avoid altitude sickness. We have 110 porters looking after us and they made great lunch and dinner. They were all singing for us as we got into camp. We're all trying to think of something to sing back to them tomorrow.

 Day 2 Monday 24th January

Getting a bit chillier. Early start and steep walk from 3000m to a tasty lunch. Well out of the rain forest and finished at 3800m in mist and drizzle. Had a great view of the summit for about 10 mins when clouds cleared. Dinner was lovely, beef stroganoff!  It's amazing how the porters manage to carry all the food, tents etc. They carry a huge pack on their back and the same again on their head. Looking forward to a good nights sleep but we have lots of snorers!

Day 3 Tuesday 25th

Chilly start - ice forming inside the tent! Left camp at 7-15 and it turned into a lovely sunny day with fantastic views of Kili which is still looking a long way up. Lunch at 4400m with the landscape looking rather Martian and reached 4600m, about same height as Mt Blanc, altitude affecting a few people. Walked into camp to the sound of the porter's choir who really do put us to shame - must think of a song that we know the words to! Up at 5-15 tomorrow to climb the Barranco Wall.

 Day 4 Wednesday 26th

Set off at 7am and had a lovely day in the sunshine. Needed a bit of scrambling to get up Barranco Wall but had stunning views from the top. Chicken & chips for lunch and are now at Barafu which looks like a refugee camp for climbers at 4500m. It's bleak, cold & v.windy and we set off at midnight for a 16h day. All going well. Looking forward to the top.