Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Oundle School Mencap Holiday will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. So please sponsor me now!

URGENT!!!!! Please note that the date of the climb has changed from August to JUNE 2007!!!!!!!!!

Between August the 14th and August the 16th of this year I was going to be climbing Malaysia's highest peak, Mt Kinabalu, to raise money for Oundle Mencap Holiday. Because my plans have changed, I will now be making the climb in mid-June 2007!

I have been involved in the OMH for the past 6 years, going from a helper to a Group Leader. Doing OMH changed my life and gave me a career direction. We give children and their parents the chance of a completely unique holiday - children can come to us for a relatively independent and extremely stimulating weekend while their parents can get some rest.

But this incredible holiday is the result of hard work and hard cash - it is not cheap to run and we need every pound that we can get. So far, there have been various fundraising initiatives to raise money for OMH, ranging from having bodily parts pierced, to running the London marathon, from cycling tandem around the 4 corners of the UK, to shaving heads. The aim of any of our fundraising ideas should be to have fun but to do something that we would not normally do. And so I have decided to climb Mt Kinabalu.

Mt Kinabalu is situated in the East Malaysia state of Sabah on the island of Borneo and towers 4095 meters (13,435 feet) above sea level. It is the highest mountain between the mighty snow-capped Himalayas and Wilhelmina (4509 meters / 14,793 feet) in Irian Jaya. It is also one of the most accessible and spectacular mountains in the world.

Because of the earth movement, it is still growing at a rate of 5 mm (¼ inches) a year. Ever changing, it is a mountain of tropical rainforest, colorful blossoms and golden sunsets, but also dark and violent storms. At times a ghostly mist shrouds the mountain and it is easy to believe the local Kadazandusun's claim that it is the homeland of their spirit world.

In 1964 Kinabalu Park was established to protect Mount Kinabalu and its flora and fauna and in 2000, UNESCO declared Mount Kinabalu a World Heritage Site. Its 754 square kilometer (291 square mile) terrain stretches upward from lowland rain forest to montane forest, cloud forest and sub-alpine meadow, before finally reaching a crown of bare granite

The trail to the highest peak winds along the southern side of the mountain. It is an 8.5 kilometer (5.25 mile) trek to the top which usually takes 2 days.

I have been attempting to get fit enough to do the climb through a combination of hill-walking, swimming, yoga and dancing (don't ask) and I ask you to sponsor me as much as you can afford to make this once in a lifetime hike - if 500 of you can sponsor me just 2 pounds (RM14, AU$5) I hope to be able to raise a minimum of 1000.

Thanks in advance for your generosity - I only hope I survive the climb!