Hi, my name is Stephen Softley, I would like tell you a wee bit about myself and share with you the reasons why I would want to climb almost 20000 Ft up a mountain in Africa! I was born in Glasgow in 1963 and that was when I met my sister Alice who is eight years older than I am. I spent my formative years looking after my sister and protecting her from the world. I was about ten when I realised that she had a learning difficulty. I didn't plan to be a joiner; I fell into it and landed on my feet in the City Chambers. I acquired my skills from two master craftsmen who spent their lives maintaining this piece of Glasgow's heritage. A bit like doing O grade physics with Einstein. On the 10/10/88 I became a craft instructor in the Thomas Fortune Centre(a centre for adults with learning difficulties) I used the skills I had developed as a joiner and benefited from the experiences I had shared with Alice. In 1990 Glasgow was the European City of Culture and I decided to jump on the band wagon and enrolled at college to study furniture design. After graduating I started working as a lecturer in Anniesland College. On my first day my boss asked me if I would take a class in ... The Thomas Fortune Centre!! Throughout the last fifteen years this centre has become the heart of my every week. In every challenge I face there, I find equal joy. There has not been one day that I have not felt a welcome and necessary part of this extended family. On the 10/5/98 my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The doctors had thought she would live a month, and to raise money for the McMillan nurses who cared for my mum, I thought I'd join an expedition to climb Mount Sinai. For me the day of her diagnosis was the day she died, but the expedition left without me as my mum hung on for another four months. On the 02/01/09 I finally made my way to Egypt and found myself on the summit of Mount Sinai. From the summit as the sun came up in the early hours of the morning, I began thinking about my family: my sister, my mum, the McMillan nurses and my extended family at the Thomas Fortune Centre. On the 10/10/08 my involvement with the Thomas Fortune Centre had been uninterupted for twenty years. As a new year dawned, a new idea took hold. I decided to take my extended family on a voyage which will take us to the rooftop of Africa. With their help and support I want to raise funds for the centre by climbing Kilimanjaro in September 2009. Although the physical journey is one I'll take alone, the reason for this journey is shared. By donating to this event or even better raising funds to contribute, you too can share this journey. "I wanna get high with a little help from my friends" Stephen Softley May 2009.