As a little girl, I was lucky enough to be taken to the Lake District by my grandparents for walking holidays and adventure.

Over time this escalated to frequent walks in the Lake District and, unlike a usual 20-something- to full walking holidays in the Scottish Highlands. More recently, I’ve scaled peaks in Poland, Norway and in 2017, successfully reached Everest Base Camp!

My love of mountain walking would not have existed if it weren’t for two very special individuals encouraging me up the peaks from such a young age. My father, David Alderson, who sadly passed away in 2005, had a real passion for hiking and another great walker, my Gran, Jane Margaret Alderson.

When I told my Gran, early last year, that in a mad moment I had committed to scale the highest free standing mountain in the world, Kilimanjaro, she was full of joy and encouragement. Unfortunately, Margaret passed away in late August after a short but aggressive development of Cancer, but am confident she would have been extremely pleased at the news that I successfully reached the summit (and back again) last week.

As you can imagine, there were some challenging times on the walk; freezing conditions; loss of feeling in feet, chest, nose and hands and lack of sleep. Low oxygen levels cause altitude sickness and dizziness. This, however, is nothing compared to what people go through and need when faced with a potentially terminal illness.

I please ask for anything you can spare in order to assist this amazing charity who help countless people across the nation. I did it for my relatives, but I also did it for everyone affected by cancer of some sort. It really does affect us all. Please help 💕