On Thursday 11 Feb at 8.15 am., after the toughest 8 hours I have ever experienced,  I summitted Kilimanjaro to stand on the roof of Africa. This was the highlight of my 8 day trek, but just as rewarding were the fantastic friendships I made [ both with fellow hikers and our local guides ] and the sense of comeraderie that our team experienced. All 25 of us summitted, a rare achievement, and in no small part due to everyone's commitment to their individual charities. In total our group raised more than £150 000.  Thank you once again to all of you for your support for the Hertfordshire branch of the NAS,  I really appreciate it.

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Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.......

I received a phone call earlier this year from my good friend David Stern.  Without preamble he asked what I thought I’d be doing next year on my birthday.  Before I could reply, he volunteered the answer “how about packing for a trip up Kilimanjaro?”

Without thinking too much about the implications I said yes.  Although I am from Africa, I had this quaint notion that Kili was a biggish hill which would probably take a day or two’s hike.  After all, I have climbed some high peaks in South Africa, including Champagne  Castle, so how much more difficult could this be?  Turns out, quite a lot.  Champagne sits at 11,000ft, Kili 19,000ft.  Those 8,000 extra feet certainly got my attention as they push you into hypoxia and high altitude territory.  I started running the next day.

I have chosen to use this opportunity to raise funds to support the Hertfordshire Branch of the National Autistic Society (HARC).  This is a charity which is close to my heart as my son is on the autistic spectrum and having experienced firsthand the challenge of bringing up an autistic child we would like to support other families in our area who are in this position. 

Autism is not like any other illness where the diagnosis automatically places you into a system with a clearly signposted route to follow.  Most children are identified at pre-school age, which means that no support can be accessed via school either, at this stage.  Social Services concentrate solely on helping with ‘child-minding’ rather than therapy.  We were told to “make an appointment for six months time and we’ll see how he’s getting along”. 

From our personal experience, we know that early intervention teaching programmes are essential to make a difference in a child’s life.  These require a huge inventory of teaching aids (I can remember my wife working into the early hours cutting, sticking and laminating in preparation for the next day’s lessons, as the materials required were either not commercially available or were hugely expensive and required ordering through US catalogues).  HARC has a resource library available for parents, which is invaluable in helping to provide these aids.

When a family is first confronted with the devastating news that their child is autistic, it is a hugely emotional time.   Family and friends, although sympathetic, are not in a position to understand what you are going through, and there is very little support and guidance from the NHS.  HARC provides a first port of call for families and helps them with invaluable advice on all the various options on how to deal with autism, and most importantly, putting them in touch with other families who can understand and support them in the early years.  As the children get older, HARC is also there to advise on education and social services.

I have made a donation to HARC which covers the cost of my trip so that any money you donate will go directly to the Charity.  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.

Thank you,

Guy