NOTE: Red completed his lifelong ambition to climb "The Old Man" on Thursday 20th June. Well done Red! We are proud of you .... from all at RP Fighting Blindness.

UPDATE: September 2013, and with Gift Aid included, and a few payments made directly to the charity rather than through Justgiving, Red has now raised a total of £15,000 for RP research - an achievement that ranks alongside that of the climb itself!

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Rising like a storm-lashed version of The Gherkin, 450ft above the Atlantic breakers that pound The Orkneys, The Old Man was first conquered in 1966 by a 3-man team led by Chris Bonnington.  This June I intend to become the first blind person to accomplish the feat, accompanied by my climbing partners Matthew Wootliff and Andres Cervantes.  In doing so we would like to help make retinitis pigmentosa a thing of the past by raising money for RP Fighting Blindness.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a degenerative eye disease that kills off the vision cells of the retina - it's got 90% of mine so far.

When I'm not killing off characters in crime fiction, I take my frustrations out on climbing walls.  Inspired by the Paralympics and cajoled by Matthew and Andres, I've decided to fulfil a long- held ambition to scale the perpendicular sides of one of Britain's most iconic rock faces. 

My other long-held dream is that others should not lose their sight to RP - should my daughters have sons their chances are 50-50.  RP Fighting Blindness is sponsoring Gene Therapy Trials at Moorfields that could make the disease a thing of the past.  If you would like to sponsor us then please do…any support for the 7 hour ascent can only make it easier!

Sir Chris Bonnington himself has been in touch to wish me luck and telling me to "Go for it!"; so no pressure there.

This attempt would not have been possible without the generous support given in time, advice, facilities and equipment donated by High Sports (special thanks are due to Cole Styron), the staff at Climb London's various climbing walls and Mammut Alpine Equipment.

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.