My Dad was passionate about sport. From an early age, Gemma, Jamie and I were encouraged to have a go at anything-football, badminton, tennis, swimming and golf. As soon as we could walk we were dragged off (in Gemma’s case, carried) to see his beloved Everton- he actually played at Goodison Park in a charity match and was mystified that he wasn’t signed up for the first team. We are sure he would have approved of our fund raising for CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young). CRY was founded to research sudden death in young people and to offer support to friends and family who have lost a loved one at an early age. Lots more information on their home page – http://www.c-r-y.org.uk. In his memory two friends of mine Steve Deare, Ben Gompertz and I are attempting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro on the Kenya/Tanzania border to raise money for CRY and are setting out on 5^th August.

For those of you who are a bit weak on geography Kilimanjaro is in north-eastern Tanzania and is the highest mountain in Africa at 5,893 metres or 19,334 ft above sea level. For Evertonians and other footy fans that’s about 40 times higher than the away end at Newcastle United, which is always a struggle. Headaches, vomiting and extreme cold are major problems during the climb (which, admittedly, are also a feature of Friday evenings in Newcastle!)

I have set up a page on Just Giving (http://www.justgiving.com/Liam-Styles) where you can make a donation. Our ambition is to raise as much money as possible and fund a research project in to a range of genetic heart problems. If you are a UK tax payer CRY can also claim the tax back to make your donation even more effective. If not, my uncle, Mike Styles, has a Charities Aid Foundation account. If you prefer you could send him/bank transfer your donation and he will make a donation on your behalf so that CRY can reclaim the tax. If your bank wants to charge for the service send him an Amazon gift voucher and he will send the £ equivalent to CRY. Mike can be contacted on michael.styles2@btopenworld.com.

Thanks in advance for all your support

Liam