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Two years ago we climbed the highest mountain in Cuba, Pico Turquino (see photo). After completing this tough trek, we felt inspired to take on a much harder, more challenging expedition, to climb the highest mountain in Africa - Kilimanjaro! We are scheduling this ascent for June 2017. The climb will take 8 or 9 days (depending on acclimatization time) and we’ll be reaching 5,895m altitude - so it won’t be easy!

In addition to attempting to complete this difficult task, we plan to raise money for an amazing cause - Alder Hey Children’s Charity - by asking for sponsorship.

Having recently opened the new hospital grounds, the Charity is now appealing to raise a further £6 million. These funds will go towards:

1. Research into new pioneering treatments for conditions such as rare forms of cancer and genetic diseases.

2. Funding new technologies, including, ‘Virtual Visiting’ - which allows parents, using a tablet, to see their loved ones when they can’t be with them.

3. Another important development is ‘3D Printing’ - this produces material which mimics parts of the body, allowing surgeons to prepare for surgery, enabling them to be more precise and improving patient outcome.

Joanna has already worked at the Alder Hey Hospital as a medical student and next year will be working there as junior doctor, so she has experienced the fantastic work that is done there.

In order to prepare for this enormous task, we’ll be training hard with early morning gruelling gym sessions, hill running in Everton park, and mountain climbing at the weekends - including the 3 peaks!

We’re completing this challenge with the help of Trek and Travel and we will be using a sponsorship method to fund the trip.

James French & Joanna Truchan

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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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.