20 years ago, Ian and I spent 4 days on Kilimanjaro, far too short for a realistic attempt, but we nearly made it pulling out at just over 5000 metres, losing the will to put one foot in front of another, and indeed breathe. It’s rather irked me ever since and I knew it to be unfinished business.  So this October, I’m heading off again to give it another go, spending double the time on the mountain, which hopefully will allow a better chance to acclimitise to the altitude, and achieve the goal to reach the summit of Africa at 5895 metres, 19,341 ft above sea level!

For sure it’s a tough and rather daunting challenge, and  I may be tempted to sit in the game lodge at the bottom of the mountain and send my cardboard cut out up instead!!  But to help my motivation, and hopefully keep going, I am raising money for the fantastic Dogstar Foundation Charity, which performs inspiring animal welfare work in Sri Lanka.  With so many unwanted and uncared for cats and dogs, Dogstar tackles the over population issue at its root cause through sterilisation.  Below are a few stats of what they do and the difference they make.

• Dogstar’s Spay-neuter clinics have sterilised 25201 dogs and 2621 cats, with nearly 1000 dogs neutered in August alone!
• Tackling rabies through their rabies vaccination programme, with to date 46,728 rabies vaccinations given.
• Street dog health care plan, providing vital veterinary care to street dogs suffering from skin conditions (fleas and mange), parasites and wounds.
• Education programmes for owners and children promoting better care through knowledge.
• Breakfast Club, providing 50 hot breakfasts for needy children every single school day.

Last year, we were lucky enough to visit Sri Lanka and meet Samantha and Mark Green, who had the vision, energy and know how to create and develop Dogstar into the positive and powerful force that it is today.  I found them inspirational. Then out and about we saw the issues confronting the street animals first hand, and  became even more committed to supporting Dogstar’s vital work.  Whilst cycling around, one young dog in particular got under my skin, got under my bike wheels and stole my heart (there are a couple of pics below). For me he represents the plight of all the street animals and he will be deep in my thoughts on the Kilimanjaro trek.

Any donations, of whatever size, will be hugely appreciated by me and by Dogstar, who will convert your kindness and compassion to action that will offer help and the hope of a better more sustainable future for the street animals of Sri Lanka. 

Thank you so very much ❤️😊

Just a word about Just Giving.  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.