Whilst I grew up in England, I’ve spent the majority of my adult life in Scotland – so I’ve seen a few mountains in my time but shamefully I’ve climbed very few of them. Mt. Kinabalu is a very exciting challenge and now that I’m 40+ it’s not just a case of heading up there assuming it’ll be easy – I need to be in good health and I really don’t want to get injured and let my mates down.

Climbing Mt. Kinabalu has been a great motivator to improve my health and general fitness levels, so starting in January I’ve been running very regularly, fasting twice a week and hiking most weekends with Graeme, Chris and Paul to make sure my body’s ready for the challenge. Whilst we’re doing this for a good cause, the best part is just doing something fun and challenging with your friends – assuming we’re still talking to each other by the time we get back to the bottom of the mountain.

The Standard Chartered Foundation: https://www.sc.com/en/sustainability/investing-in-communities/scfoundation/ focuses on tackling inequality by promoting greater economic inclusion for disadvantaged young people from low-income households, particularly girls and people with visual impairments, providing opportunities to make a better future for themselves and their families. We fund programmes in the areas of education, employability, entrepreneurship and eye health and are the lead partner in delivering the Futuremakers by Standard Chartered initiative.