On the 15th of June I will be leaving the comfort of Durham and head North to climb the UK's highest mountain, Ben Nevis. I imagine after this I will be very pleased to see the minibus, and will then travel South to Scafell Pike, hopefully reaching the peak in time for Sunday's sunrise! The final leg of the journey will be to Mount Snowdon. In total this will be 23 miles (2 miles further than the distance across the English Channel) and an ascent of 10,052 feet i.e. no mean feat! 

Why am I doing this?

I recently discovered the extent and variety of the Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team's efforts:

• River searches
• Missing persons in both rural and urban areas
  
• Walker injuries 
• Mountain biker support
• Search and Rescue Dogs 
  

They do all of this and more 24 hours a day without funding while holding down full time jobs, meeting almost all their own expenses. Team vehicles, rescue kit, medical supplies and operational running costs are in excess of £40,000 per year so they are reliant on public donations. 

Personal motivation:

From reading their callout archive, there is a strong sense of the teams response to calls that are specialist problems. However, it does not take much reading before these emergency situations become frighteningly relatable.  There are many situations where I could have required the assistance of such a service. I completed three walking expeditions, I use the river regularly, my dog is daft as a brush and I can see it easily getting into bother, my brother enjoys mountain riding...The list becomes endless. It is frightening to think of being in one of these callout situations without such a fantastic service being their to assist.  Hence, I will be fundraising to help them continue their amazing work. 

Callout archive: https://www.twsmrt.org.uk/callouts.php?from=1480464000&to=1514894363 

My preparation:

Despite completing my Gold Duke of Edinburgh my assessors report was hardly glowing...."Louise found it physically challenging"! I'd be surprised if I haven't already told you I row, however a challenge of this size is incomparable to a paddle in a boat with other people contributing to the movement too. I have absolutely no doubt this challenge will be the hardest thing I have ever done. 

I could type for ages about this challenge and its difficulties but before this becomes too long winded (hopefully you're still reading!) and ITV documentary-esk.... "I'm going on a journey", I will simply say they are a FREE emergency service and I would really appreciate anything you could donate to this challenge!

Thank you in advance,

Louise x