They say life is about setting challenges. Not satisfied with having run a marathon in 1997, or trying to play a role in a rampant art market over the last few years, or the sheer fatigue of looking after two effervescent young boys, I rashly agreed at the beginning of the year to climb Africa’s tallest mountain, Kilimanjaro. I’ll be doing this from 1-9^th October.

 It’s only now, shortly before departure and many blisters’ worth into my training, that the penny’s beginning to drop as to the sheer awesomeness of this mountain. Nearly 6000m at the summit, and starting a bit above sea-level, Kilimanjaro is not for the feint-hearted. Additionally, for some unbeknownst reason, our group has also chosen one of the most difficult routes up, Lemosho Glades. Talk about making life tricky for ourselves!

 However, the adversity of this climb will be little compared to the adversity and set of challenges that my wife’s mother had to face during her struggle with ovarian cancer. Fran battled this terrible disease valiantly for 18 months and sadly lost her fight earlier this year. Those that knew Fran were awestruck by her elegance, brave character and composure in the face of such a gruelling illness. Those that didn’t will hopefully share my sentiment that really no-one should have to go through that.

In the process of climbing this great mountain, I’m going to be raising money for Ovarian Cancer Action, a fantastic and relevant charity who are providing critical support to sufferers as well as insightful research into what’s sometimes called `the silent cancer’. I’m attaching links to their activities so you can see where the funds will be going.

I hope you agree that this is a worthy and deserving cause which I hope you might be persuaded to help out. I do hope you might consider sponsoring me and please be as generous as you can.

Thank you in advance for your support