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The MAG National Lift Tower Abseil  (or Abseiling the Northampton Lighthouse)    How did I get talked into this?   Sometimes things just seem to fall into place..............   When recently visiting a friend I was ‘encouraged’ to do an abseil. I think it went something like "Rob, you're doing an abseil"   It seemed to me that this is not something to be considered lightly and more information was required.    Where is it? I asked   As the heading here indicates, it is at the National Lift Tower.  This immediately caught my interest as I spent much of my early career working for the former Express Lift Company on this site and had become very familiar with this building during that time.  I was now giving this serious consideration!   What date is it happening?   Well could you believe it – it is happening on my 52nd birthday, May 2nd - yes I know I don't look that age really! Could this be the high point of my celebration?   I was now convinced that I was destined to take up this challenge – even if I was somewhat worried by the prospect of abseiling from the top of a 400 foot 'lighthouse'.  See the picture on the left of this page.   As I indicated this is one of those things that just seemed to fall into place, so here I am looking for your support for this very worthy cause.   The idea is to raise funds for MAG (Mines Advisory Group),  a UK based charity which saves lives by locating and removing landmines and unexploded bombs in countries affected by conflict.  They have been working in around 35 countries since 1989 and was co-awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.   Update 19/04/2011:  Just to get a taste for abseiling in advance of 'the big one' I went to Avon Gorge last weekend.  I completed 2 abseils - 90 ft and 190 ft.  Hopefully this will prove to be valuable preparation for the tower - at least it will be smooth all the way down even if it is more than double the height.   See the latest picture.   Update 06/06/2011:  Finally completed the abseil yesterday - great experience.  I was one of the lucky ones as many were postponed due to high winds causing delays again.  I hope to post some pictures from the day on here soon.  Thanks to all of my sponsors for your generous support to this worthy cause.   Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, and please read on if you would like to support my fund raising efforts.   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.   So please dig deep and donate now.

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