Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit my Challenge Diary.  I hope that you will find it of interest and that I can tempt you to sponsor me via my Be My Charity link at the end of this page.

I will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for my favourite charity HELP for HEROES.  My wife and I have been Volunteer Group Coordinators for them for the past 2 years.  As an ex Soldier myself with a son-in-law who is currently serving as a regular Soldier it is a charity close to my own heart.

H4H was set up in 2007 by a young couple Bryn & Emma Parry.  Bryn is also an ex regular Soldier and both Bryn and Emma had a desire to help our wounded Service men & women returning injured from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

H4H is strictly a none political charity.  We are not concerned with the why's and wherefores of whether our armed forces should or should not be involved in whatever military operations.  Our aim is simple, to help our wounded Service men & women back onto the road to leading a rewarding and fullfilling life.  We can not stop our Service personel from getting injured, but we can help them get better.  Each week I will be telling you about the many different ways that H4H does this.

Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world and the highest mountain on the African Continent.  She stands at 5896m, in old money that's 19,340 feet.  The name Kilimanjaro is Swahili for "Shining Mountain" and she stands on Tanzania's northern border with Kenya. 

The trek takes place over 10 days and in case any of you think its a holiday there is a real danger of frostbite at the higher levels and acute mountain sickness in its various forms is a very real possibility.  Around 15,000 people each year Attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and on average 9 trekkers each year die in their attempts!  So, I would just like to leave you with these thoughts:-