Early this year our family had a discussion regarding the merits of taking on a physical challenge together.

This then progressed to the idea of pursuing a challenge in support of a really important cause.

The outcome was my brother and I and our respective sons, Anthony and Ethan agreeing to climb Mount Toubkal in Morocco (Mt Toubkal is the highest mountain in N Africa, rising to 4,200 metres) and doing so in aid of Chance for Childhood.

This is a key charity that supports families in Africa who are raising children with disabilities or dealing with conflict by providing education, health and nutrition advice and through donating pigs as a sustainable source of income to help support their children and improve their quality of life.

We are keen to support this charity because it is helping families become self sufficient and does so in a sustainable way.

The challenge will involve James, Anthony, Ethan and I embarking on a 5 day trek starting on Monday 07 Sept, carrying water, food and camping gear led by a guide and supported by some mules.

James has taken on Kilimanjaro so has some experience of this sort of thing, but the rest of us havent done much more than gentle walks in southern England. With arthritic knees the older generation will be relying on the younger generation to do most of the carrying of kit. We hope that they will not also need to be tasked with carrying us back down the mountain!

Training is getting under way in readiness for our trip in September with a goal of clocking up plenty of miles complete with elevation in the weeks ahead.

Thank you for taking the time to read this summary of our plan. Anything you can offer to support a really good cause would be very much appreciated.