Harpist to break own Guinness World record on Mount Kilimanjaro

An Irish woman is set to achieve a Guinness World Record as she attempts to perform a harp concert at an altitude of 19,340ft on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Siobhan Brady, 24 years old, from Limerick, Ireland is taking on the challenge alongside a team of around 19 to help raise awareness of and funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, through leading fundraising platform, JustGiving.

On 17th July, the team will travel to Tanzania and commence their seven-day climb, carrying not just one, but two 10 kg harps, in case one is damaged during the climb.

This is not the first time Siobhan has broken a Guinness World Record, in September 2018 she played the Highest Altitude Harp Performance at 16,000ft in the Himalaya Mountains in India.

However, highlighting the extremity and severity of this challenge, tragically, the team leader Desmond Gentle died at the age of 69 from thrombosis, just 10 days after they returned from India.

During their Himalayas conquest Desmond shared his aspirations of taking on an even bigger challenge – Mount Kilimanjaro.  Siobhan and the team will therefore not only be taking on this challenge to raise vital funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland, but they’ll be also doing it in memory of Desmond.

Siobhan Brady who started playing the harp age 11 said “I’m excited about the adventure despite the challenges we will have to overcome. Just getting the harp up to the top is a major challenge in itself. We’re having to practice various techniques of carrying it and the weight of the harp differs depending on what we use to ensure its secure.”

Joining Siobhan and the team on the hike is 52year-old Caroline who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at the age of 13 and has worked for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland for almost 15 years.

Caroline who hopes to become one of the first women with Cystic Fibrosis to climb the mountain is training over 12 hours per week for the challenge but, due to her illness is having to take every day as it comes.

Caroline Heffernan said: “Most people think I’m mad, but honestly, I’ll give anything a go. I may not make it to the top, but I’m training hard and I’ll give it my best shot.

“For me, this challenge is about showing that anyone can give anything a try, even if they believe it’s too much of a stretch. I hope that people will feel inspired by what we’re doing and start their own fundraising challenge for 65 Roses Day.”

“I’ve lost too many friends to Cystic Fibrosis; I will stand very proudly beside Siobhan as she plays Ed Sheeran’s Little Bird as part of the GWR Concert. Little Bird is particularly special to us as Ed sang this song to a young lady, Triona Priestley as she passed away.”

Pascale Harvie, President and General Manager at JustGiving said: “This challenge reflects on every level the difficulties that people with Cystic Fibrosis face every day. I’m in awe of Siobhan, Caroline and their team’s commitment to raise vital funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. They are an inspiration to us all.”

The team will be completing the challenge just after 65 Roses Day which takes place on 14th April.

65 Roses came about in 1965 when 4-year-old Ricky Weiss heard his mother on the phone trying to get funding for research into Cystic Fibrosis, something he and his two siblings were diagnosed with.

Ricky listened to his mother’s conversations and said she was working for “65 roses.” More than 65 years later, the legacy of this conversation lives on.

To donate to the Highest Harp Concert Challenge visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Highest-Harp

NOTES TO EDITOR

For further information contact  press@justgiving.com

*All figures quoted include GiftAid and are accurate at the time of releasing this press release.

Figures quoted relate to fundraising activity on JustGiving only. JustGiving is one of many fundraising platforms that people can choose from when fundraising for events such as the London Marathon.

About JustGiving
JustGiving is the world’s most trusted platform for online giving. We help people raise money for the charities and people they care about the most. In 2000, JustGiving.com began with one simple goal – to enable charities to receive donations online from anywhere in the world. Fast forward 22 years and over £5 billion has been raised for good causes in almost every single country in the world.

JustGiving became part of Blackbaud, the world’s leading cloud software company powering social good in 2017.

To note – JustGiving does not charge a fee on donations but instead operates a voluntary contribution model, meaning people donating can choose to leave a ‘tip’ if they wish. The only non-optional fee is a 1.9% + 20p to cover card payment charges.