In just over a month, Daisy and Julian will (fingers crossed) have successfully summited and descended Mont Blanc.

We have decided to challenge ourselves this year with one of the hardest hikes around and what better way to raise money for a great cause. Standing at 4,810m - Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe.

We will be part of a four man team including a guide to take on the peak. Beginning on the 26th of August - the first two days will be used for training and acclimatising before taking 5 days to ascend and descend. The physically demanding climb involves a 12-14 hour summit day above 4,000 m where we will be using crampons and ice axes.

For the next five months, we have been sent a specific training regime which hasn't been easy so far to fit into Daisy’s travelling lifestyle however she will persist. Julian is full steam ahead with his training and will keep this up in London whilst he starts his new career with IBM.

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As quoted by Ralph Fiennes, ‘Nine times Everest climber, Ed Viesturs, has two favourite sayings:’Just because you love the mountains doesn’t mean the mountains love you’ and ‘Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.’
So with that we will give it our best and hope we come out successful.

The charity we have chosen and hope you will support is Pratham. Based in India - the non-governmental organisation's aim is to provide a better quality of education for the underprivileged children of India. Although Pratham understands the problem is grave, they believe they have a better solution than most and the charity which started back in 1995 has come a long way since making exceptional progress within India. 

'Even after 68 years of independence, India is beset by serious problems with its education system. Numerous research studies and surveys have substantiated these problems and prove that immediate attention and action is required.'

Pratham helps improve the quality of education  for millions of children in India each year, using strategies that have spread beyond India' s border. We ask you to donate what you can and contribute to providing for a brighter future for many. 

In 2013 Pratham received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Development Cooperation, for successfully catering to the learning needs of tens of millions of children. It has created new methods to accelerate reading acquisition, using a grassroots approach in which pupils are grouped by levels and needs instead of age, while providing specific training to the teachers and volunteers recruited to its programs.

To find out more about our chosen charity, here is the link: http://www.pratham.org/about-us/about-pratham

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