Good day all im Mike Kay, after 8 years of service with the British Army I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, which led to my eventual discharge from the Army under medical grounds in 2013. After leaving the Army things went downhill for a while leading to years of treatment and 3 major operations, the last one had me on life support as things did not go too well for me obviously this was a stressful time for my family and friends.

Fast forward a few years I find myself back to full health and fitness as far as possible anyway. As such I now try to give something back each year to society, last year I raised £1200 for SSAFA (soldiers, sailors & airmen’s families association) by completing the 3 Peaks Run in under 24 hours.

This year I am being more ambitious, I will be attempting and fully expect to succeed in Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as part of the “Helimed 29” team in aid of the Lincs & Notts air ambulance fund to help the NHS which helped me so much during my treatment. The amount I need to raise is £5000 by September this year. So far from just two quiz nights I have raised £1300. This is only part of my fundraising journey as l have many more events planned.

The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance need £10 million pounds each year, the majority of which is raised by donations as they

do not receive any direct government funding. In the 2023 year they attended 1771 incidents saving many lives.