I inherited my love of nature and wildlife from my dad, and have decided to take up the challenge of climbing Ben Nevis this year to raise money for a charity close to my heart - Wildwood Trust.

Wildwood is charity dedicated to the conservation of Britain's most threatened animals and their habitats. We've been visitors to their wildlife park in Kent for many years now, and I would really love to support them by raising money for their current conservation projects involving red squirrels, wildcats, red-billed choughs and water voles (to name but a few).

As I'm quite sporty and love the countryside, this Ben Nevis trek is the ideal challenge for me. I've been training for the last few months by running, walking and hiking in France and in the UK, cleverly replacing mountain slopes by concrete steps - there aren't many hills in Paris ;-)

Thank you so much for anything you can donate - every little helps!

Cathy x