Thanks to everyone who sponsored me, I managed to get to the top and back down in one piece.

As a group of 11 we managed to raise £50,000 towards Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

 

This is a challenge that I could not resist, my friends Gaon and Marilyn's story below was the reason and after visiting Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital recently I know your support will be appeciated and put to good use immediately to improve the lives of kids with a range of serious life threatening conditions.

On 25 July 2006, twin boys were born into the world and one, born at 4lbs and the size of a bag of sugar, was rushed into intensive care. To the consternation of senior consultants his condition deteriorated and for some unfathomable reason the blood flow to the lower half of his body was drying up. As a last resort, he was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital. They discovered that he had a rare lack of aorta (a rather important 'pipe' that moves blood around the body). In case this was an insufficient challenge, he also had an unusually large hole in the heart and an extremely rare form of haemophilia. By no coincidence, Great Ormond Street Hospital had one of only two surgeons in the world who could operate on such a condition in such a small baby (using a unique technique of moving internal organs around and stitching together the ends of the aorta, 'like sewing soft cheese'). Thanks to the standard of care, the standard of surgeons and the standard of financial support at Great Ormond Street Hospital, after two 8 hour heart operations and three years, this little boy, Jobe, has been a source of joy and inspiration to his parents. Enough said........this is why my arm was severely twisted and the reason me and a group of friends are trekking to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro hoping to raise at least £30,000 in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

 

Thank you for your support.