Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

George Zographou, 18, suddenly died from Meningitis B on the 16th August 2017 whilst attending Boardmasters Festival, Newquay, from which he never arrived home. George's family are very close with both myself and my two children, Ben and Chloe. I have known Elaine, George's mum, for nearly 25 years and George for his whole life. We were with them at the time when they made the tragic decision to turn off George's life support.

George was particularly close to my son Ben, both sharing a passion for Arsenal and Bristol City Football Club. His friends called him the BFG which was the perfect description of him. He was noisy and sociable but also kind and gentle, not to forget how tall he was! He was incredibly bright too and would of been going to Aston University. Sadly, he never got to see his A level results.

We, as a family, have been deeply affected by these events and the loss of George, an intelligent, amazing young man. George's family have been tirelessly fundraising over the past year including charity football matches, a ball and a cycle ride to Paris. We felt strongly that we wanted to support them and Meningitis Research Foundation to do our bit for George and to help prevent similar tragedies happening to other families in the future.

The opportunity of this expedition to Machu Picchu in Peru provided the purpose and focus for our fundraising effort. This trek will be no holiday! The journey will involve long days hiking, camping and fluctuating temperatures over rugged terrain. This effort will require some serious training with the help from my personal trainer Joe Mitton! I will be going as part of a team which will include Elaine, and some of her supportive friends so the experience will not only be physical but very much emotional too.

I have pledged to raise £4000 with the help of my family and friends through different events and fundraising efforts to reach my target for the Meningitis Research Foundation.

I would be extremely grateful for any financial contribution you could make, however small, to help reach the target and help the work towards a world free of meningitis. I would also be grateful if you could share my challenge with your friends and families to help get the word out about meningitis.

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