Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.Its been a while since i have done anything for charity, but this time, well ..............
following on from a conversation with some one down the pub nearly 18 months ago, i will be travelling to Tanzania to climb mount Kilimanjaro in july.

Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, is actually the tallest freestanding mountain in the world (google it, I was shocked too) , and has a frightening reputation as being one of the toughest treks on the planet. sounds fun right ?
so, what on earth could have possibly made me think that this was a good idea ? simple really, theres a local charity thats very close to my heart, that does great work and unfortunately they get no where near enough exposure, the charity is of course the hilbrae rescue Kennels.
Anyone who knows me will know that my dogs are my world, and some of you will know Montys story but for those of you who dont......

i pulled monty out of a rescue centre (not Hilbrae and in no way affiliated to Hilbrae) in south wales 10 years ago, he was actually born in to the rescue centre , and had been rejected by his mother, and was significantly smaller than the other puppies in the litter. although he appeared to be in good health, he would die without the attention from his mother, and the rescue centre that he came from (which I wont name but can happily say they were shut down some years ago) had a policy whereby he would have been euthanised on this basis as they 'didn't have the time' to give him a fair chance. i couldnt let that happen so after a rather heated conversation with the staff he came home with me. that was 10 years ago, and in that time a lot has changed in my life, i have moved across the country, seen several relationships fail, lost friends and family, but Monty has been my (unreasonably grumpy) constant companion throughout everything.in many ways Monty has rescued me as much as I rescued him. I owe Monty quite a lot, but as he has everything he could ever need, I wanted to be able to help out some of the dogs who haven't been as fortunate as monty.

Hilbrae rely on donations (whether that be financial, food, services etc) to function, and to be able to provide accommodation for the countless dogs that have been abandoned, neglected, abused and for all reasons they may end up there. Hilbrae will NEVER put a healthy dog to sleep, and will accomodate them indefinitely if needed, but a life in kennels is not a final solution, these guys need homes.

so, please donate whatever you can spare to help the humans at Hilbrae keep on doing what they do best, rescuing dogs. no amount is too small, or if you cant donate financially, donate some time, go down and walk some of the dogs, or drop some food in to them, its always appreciated.
i just want to point out that the entire trip to Kilimanjaro has been paid for by me personally, so any money raised will be going to the charity and will not be paying any of my associated costs so remember to hit the giftaid button too

thank you for taking the time to read, i will be posting regularly with updates on instagram and Twitter  links all below 

TIA

Chris

Instagram - @chrisjpooler83

Twitter - @realchrispooler

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.