Story
<p>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</p>
<p>I'm trying to raise money for Naomi house and Jacksplace which is a purpose built hospice serving the Wessex region, situated north of Winchester, for children and young people who are unlikely to live to become adults. Many of you will know that my better half Annette has worked in palliative care for over 20 years so she has given me an insight into the courage of those people less fortunate than ourselves. Naomi house is a small well run charity which mainly relies on private donations. It costs £5 million a year to run the charity with 85% of this needed from the private sector. The photos for this page were taken at the hospice. Please visit their website at www.naomihouse.org.uk</p>
<p>To persuade you to give generously I am off to Mount Everest. A group of 10 of us led by David Hempleman-Adams fly to Nepal on 27th March on the Iceland Everest Expedition. Iceland Foods are also raising money for alzheimers research, a worthy national cause. We will do an acclimatising trek there before crossing into Tibet and heading to Base camp. We will be on Everest for up to 6 weeks. The first major goal is to reach the North Col which at 7,000 metres is higher than any mountain outside Asia. This is my own personal target for your sponsorship, it is 1,000 metres higher than i have ever been before and a challenge in itself. The ultimate goal of the group is for some of us to reach the summit at 8,850 metres via the north ridge route but this can be affected by weather as well as altitude and may not include me so I hope you will agree that 7,000 metres is high enough to earn your sponsorship. At any rate climbing in the mountains is an easier challenge than that faced by most of Naomi house's children in their journey through life.</p>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>So please dig deep and donate now.</p>