<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>9th November</strong></span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">We did it&nbsp;!!!</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">On the 23rd October at roughly 6.30am I managed to clamber and crawl my way to the top. I can now report that the 4 days of trekking prior to the summit climb gave little clue to the pain and suffering that I enjoyed for the last 5 hours of the summit - my best achievement ever, so i guess it is only fair that it was also the hardest by far.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Many thanks to you all for your&nbsp;support over recent months and most of all thanks to Anne for looking after our children whilst I went to Africa - I had a couple of days of really hard work; i suspect she had a few more days than me!!</span></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">15th October</span></strong></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Well, the big day looms and apart from some last minute shopping today all is done. Last pack tonight (forgot some crucial things first time round so thank goodness that for once in my life I followed instructions and had a trial pack first).</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Thanks to all of you who have sponsored me; to those who have been kind enough to send me messages of good luck over the last couple of days and to those who will be helping my wife look after the children whilst I'm away. </span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">I have decided to leave the last words to my sister:</span></p> <p>"......my brothers&nbsp;have between them passed the &pound;20,000&nbsp;mark for amounts raised for the MND Association.&nbsp; This is particularly poignant today as I was assessed for, and granted a right to, a motorised wheelchair for indoor/outdoor use.&nbsp; If ever I needed confirmation of the insidious way this disease progresses, it was this"</p> <p>Thank you</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="color: #ff0000;">2nd October</span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;">Finished the 14 mile walk and slept likw a baby last night - at least that should mean that I have the fitness for the walk, its now about coping with the altitude and having the mental strength for the long climb. </span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="color: #ff0000;">28th September</span></p> <p>Just need to say a big thanks to Roger and Wendy Lambert who have made a&nbsp;huge off-line contribution to the fund - really appreciate it.</p> <p>Neil and I doing our last long walk this weekend, so hopefully that will ensure we are as ready as we can be - hardly two finely tuned athletes, but good enough we think (time will tell).</p> <p>Anyway, more next week as we count down, but so far so good</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="color: #ff0000;">17th September</span></p> <p>Firstly I just must say a huge thank you to all of those who have sponsored me - I never dreamed that we could together raise over &pound;8,000. Trying now for the magical &pound;10,000.</p> <p>Kit all purchased - need some more pants, but that's enough about that! Training is OK, although always could do more. Neil and I have ambitious plans for a couple of very long walks at the beginning of October, so we should be able to iron out any issues before we leave.</p> <p>Must admit to feeling a little nervous now - keep reading all of&nbsp;the accounts from other people that say "this is really really hard", so now just hoping that we can keep each other going to the top.&nbsp;</p> <p>As ever - all for you Jacqui and always in my thoughts. x</p> <p>More soon.&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As you may already know, my sister, Jacqui, has developed Motor Neurones Disease ("MND"). You can find out all you need to know about MND on the association's website (<a href="http://www.mndassociation.org">http://www.mndassociation.org</a>), but I want to share with you some of my thoughts about Jacqui.</p> <p>Jacqui is pretty special to me and if I'm honest I have always looked up to her. There are lots of tales I could share with you; about her professional and personal successes, but for me she can be encapsulated by two facts:&nbsp;that she&nbsp;stayed up for most of the night to feed our first son because&nbsp;we were both out for the count and secondly that&nbsp;she has been sent off at football more times that either of her brothers, but that is a different tale!</p> <p>Anyway, Jacqui has for some reason developed MND and as a result my world will always be less colourful.&nbsp;Whilst we are all getting to grips with what the future holds, I&nbsp;vowed on the day that I was told she had MND that I would do something to show her how much she means to me. I know that I can do little to help her in the coming years, but I can raise as much money as I can to help research into this devasting disease. That is why I'm climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and that is why I need your help.</p> <p><strong>Thanks for visiting my page and please give as much as you can</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>