On October 23^rd 2008, I leave the UK bound for Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I’m aiming to be on the Summit on the 31st.

Rising 4600m from the base of the volcano to the summit at 5895m, this is a major undertaking for me, with no guarantee of success - largely due to the unknown impact of altitude. To put this in perspective, Kilimanjaro is higher than 2 Ben Nevis, plus 2 Scafell Pike, plus Snowdon, all stacked on top of one another!

So why endure a week of trudging uphill, the inevitable headaches and the risk of acute mountain sickness? Well, for years, summiting Kilimanjaro has been a long-standing goal of mine. But having decided to have an attempt, I want others to benefit too.

I’m making this trip to raise funds for two small and very well deserving charities run by my colleagues at Aon. Everything raised will be split equally between the two charities.

1 - The Ben Williams Trust http://www.benwilliamstrust.org.uk/ and the

2 - The Cri Du Chat Syndrome Support Group http://www.criduchat.co.uk/

I’d like to raise a total of £2000. It's a modest target, which I’d love to exceed for such practical and deserving causes. Of course, I'll be meeting all my own expenses for the trip, so everything you contribute goes to those great causes and will be put to good use.

Thank you very much for your interest and support.

 About My Charities

The funds raised through this event will be split equally between these two charities:

1 - The Cri Du Chat Syndrome Support Group (Charity Registration No:1044942)

More details of this charity are shown to the left on this page.

The Ben Williams Trust was set up in memory of Ben Williams who died of a rare heart muscle disorder at the age of 14.

The Trust is funding a groundbreaking new specialist nursing post at the Royal Brompton Hospital. “Ben’s Nurse” provides much needed support to children with arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) and to their families, helping them to learn to live with their conditions, and in some cases the threat of sudden death. In addition, she is raising the profile of such conditions, informing other health and educational professionals about heart arrhythmia and its management.

Ben’s passion was cricket, and the Trust also supports youth cricket projects, and in particular the development of young wicketkeepers, and has funded one to one coaching from ex-England captain Alec Stewart OBE, and the Surrey wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty.