🏔️ KILIMANJARO 2026 — OUR CHALLENGE FOR TWO CHARITIES CLOSE TO OUR HEARTS ❤️

This October, my husband and I, alongside an incredible team of 24 people, will be heading to Africa to take on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

We’ll be tackling the Lemosho Route, spending 5 days climbing and 2 days descending, with the ultimate goal of standing on the summit at 5,895 metres above sea level.

And this is no easy challenge.

Our summit night will be a long, gruelling push through the darkness, with hours of walking in the freezing cold and temperatures potentially dropping as low as -18°C. We’ll be tired, uncomfortable, physically pushed to our limits and, above all, dealing with the unknown effects of altitude.

We’ve been doing everything we can to prepare. We’ve been getting the miles and steps in, training, walking, building our fitness and doing our best to make sure our bodies are ready for what lies ahead.

But the reality is, we can’t train for everything.

Injuries, exhaustion, altitude sickness, weather and the way our individual bodies respond to the mountain are all things we simply cannot control. Even with the best preparation, there is no guarantee that any of us will reach the summit.

And perhaps that’s what makes this challenge so exciting.

It’s an unknown. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to test us physically and mentally. There will undoubtedly be moments when we question what on earth we’re doing there!

But we intend to face it head on and give it everything we have to reach that summit. 🏔️

❤️ WHY WE ARE DOING IT

We have chosen to raise money for two charities that are incredibly close to our hearts.

💙 Young Carers Buckingham YC2!

We were fortunate enough to discover YC2 following our son Ralph’s diagnosis.

Having a sibling with additional needs is not the same as having a typical sibling relationship. Our daughter Heidi has had to sacrifice and adapt in ways that no child should ever have to think about.

Days out can end abruptly. Plans have to change in the blink of an eye. She has had to make constant exceptions and compromises because of Ralph’s needs, while also carrying expectations and responsibilities that come with being a sibling to a child who needs additional support.

And yet, she is still just a little girl who deserves to have her own space, her own experiences and the opportunity to simply be a child.

Young Carers Buckingham has given her exactly that.

They have created a place where Heidi feels important in her own right not just as Ralph’s sister.

Through them, she has been able to enjoy days out, club nights, cinema trips and experiences with other children who understand what it can be like to be a young carer. She gets to go somewhere where she doesn’t have to worry about Ralph’s needs, make compromises or explain herself.

What they do is genuinely incredible, and we have seen first-hand the difference it makes.

💜 Ralph’s Specialist School - Furze Down

Our second charity is one that is very close to home our son’s new specialist school, their charity is known as friends of Furze Down.

Getting Ralph into the school he needed was something we fought tooth and nail for.

For him, this placement is going to be invaluable. It has the specialist environment, understanding, support and expertise that we believe he needs to reach his potential and continue developing.

But throughout that journey, something became incredibly apparent to us:

There simply isn’t enough funding or support.

Specialist schools are hugely oversubscribed, spaces are incredibly difficult to secure and there are so many children who desperately need specialist education and support.

We feel incredibly grateful that Ralph has been given this opportunity.

We know how much it means to him and to our family, and we hope that the money raised through this challenge can help support other pupils and families on their own educational journeys, giving children access to opportunities, resources and experiences that can make a genuine difference to their lives.

Funds raised through Friends of Furze Down are used to support resources, equipment, enrichment opportunities and experiences that enhance the lives of their pupils. This additional support helps provide opportunities that pupils might not otherwise have access to, enabling them to learn, develop and thrive in ways that go beyond what can be funded through our core budget alone.

🏔️ SO… HERE WE GO!

Two charities.

24 people.

One enormous mountain.

We know that climbing Kilimanjaro is going to be one of the hardest things we have ever done but knowing that every step is helping raise money for causes that mean so much to us makes every blister, aching muscle, freezing night and difficult kilometre worthwhile.

If you can spare anything at all, please consider donating.

Whether it’s £5, £10 or £50, every single donation will help us get closer to our fundraising goal and, more importantly, will help two causes that have already made such a huge difference to our family.

And when we’re standing on that summit, freezing, exhausted and wondering why we ever thought this was a good idea… 😂

we’ll know exactly why we did it. ❤️

Thank you so much for supporting us, cheering us on and helping us turn every step up that mountain into something meaningful.

Wish us luck we’re going to need it! 🏔️❤️