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UPDATE

We finished, after 13 hours and 15 minutes, but we finished! Never doing anything like that ever again.  Thank you so much to everyone that has sponsored us. It kept us trudging on, when we really felt like just going to the pub!  Oh, and by the way, we didn't need the coats and hats we lugged all the way, just suncream...which of course we forgot!

 

We have bravely/stupidly/drunkenly signed up to walk 47kms in the Big Black Mountain Challenge in the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountains on the 15th May. Ben and Flynn both walked the 100km Maclehose Trail back in 1997 so felt pretty confident, forgetting they were 13 years younger then and up to 2 stones lighter! Ben persuaded Andrea to do it with "it's just like walking to the pub 20 times"...and so began our training regime.

We've since found out that it's not like a walk to the pub - for a start it's up and down 15 peaks - last year 6 people were airlifted off the mountains with hypothermia, and the walkers experienced 70mph winds, and unrelenting snow, hail and rain.  Right now, we feel woefully unprepared, so need as much encouragement as you can afford to donate!

We've decided to raise money for "The Foundation for Conductive Education" a UK charity working to improve that lives with children and adults with neurological motor disorders (such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis,  and cerebral palsy) through the practice of Conductive Education.

Andrea's mum has now had Parkinson's Disease for 22 years and has been greatly helped by the skills learnt in Conductive Education. She felt so strongly about the benefits of the programme for PD and MS sufferers, that she set up another branch in Cheltenham, which helps people to learn practical ways of managing their illness and lead a more normal life. The branch needs another £2000 to fund the programme and keep it open in 2011.

We now have a twitter account so that you can follow us on our journey. We'll tweet whenever we get to a checkpoint, get injured, cry, or see something funny. http://twitter.com/47km15Peaks. if you have Twitter or Facebook accounts please add us/follow us to spread the word.

We won't be alone in our quest to take on the blizzards of Brecon Beacons. We will be striving to keep up with Jo, Tim and Harriet who are raising money for the Daniel Courtney Trust (in memory of Jo's son Daniel, who suffered from Microvillous Atrophy (MVA) and very sadly died in April 2005 at the age of 16 months after a multi-organ transplant).

They will be holding a prize draw for all supporters  - with the  chance to win a fantastic recently launched PAYG Samsung Monte mobile phone worth £130. Entry to the draw is free - but at the same time a small donation to Daniel's Charity would be much appreciated and really help to encourage us on our way.  Everyone who donates via their page www.justgiving.com/climb--every--mountain  will automatically be entered in the draw ; anyone else who would like to enter please email your name and a contact number to smile@makingitbetter.org.uk  Once the Justgiving page has closed at the end of May, all the names will be put into a hat and the first name to be picked out will be the winner!

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 please dig deep and donate now.

Thanks for all your support!

Andrea, Ben and Flynn