I am not writing this for sympathy but to raise awareness and hopefully raise money for a good cause.

One day in 2022 I woke up with excrutiating pain in my bladder and assumed it was a UTI. Unfortunately after trying lots of different antibiotics and pain relief I realised the pain was going nowhere. After quite a few appointments and tests I was eventually diagnosed with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome. There are different ways of managing symptoms but there is no cure. The pain didnt really go away for the next couple of years. I was constantly in pain or dealing with urgency whilst going to many different appointments and trying many different medications and painkillers. A lot of the meds didnt agree with me and I had to stop taking them. I tried changing my diet to ease/manage my symptoms but that didnt work. Eventually I did find a medication that relaxed the muscles around my bladder and stopped the urgency but doesnt always ease the pain. Thankfully the pain has eased over time by itself and by me learning to relax my pelvic floor. Its often affected my confidence, my job, my mood, my physical health and my life. Unfortunately because its an "invisible illness" not everyone understands the affect it has on your quality of life. Many people who suffer with chronic bladder pain become severely depressed and suicidal.

At the beginning of all of this I was a stay at home Mum. Because I was dealing with this constant pain, everyday felt like a challenge. My husband would be at work 48 hours a week or more and doing it on my own a lot of the time was hard but I forced myself to get up and get out and do things with my daughter because I wasn't going to let it ruin her day as well as mine and i wasnt going to let it stop me from being a good mother. I found sometimes just forcing myself to take her out for the day actually helped me ignore the pain but as soon as I'd got her to bed and sat down by myself I'd be in tears. I'm incredibly thankful that I'm not in that much pain currently.

Since my symptoms have slowly eased I have been eager to do more of the things I love and try to get fitter again. As we welcomed the new year, my mind was racing thinking about all the different things I could do to get fitter and healthier mentally and physically. I don't enjoy going to the gym and I couldn't commit myself to a dance/exercise class. I dont enjoy exercising much at all. I needed to think of something that I could fit around my life. Something that I enjoy and wont get bored of. Something realistic. I love going for walks, beautiful scenery, fresh air and sunsets! I made the decision to try and walk up at least 1 hill a week in 2026.

Since I started hiking up hills and since feeling quite a lot better (with the occasional flare up), I started to think about all the other people dealing with chronic bladder pain and how it affects their lives and wanted to do something to help so why not try and raise money for Bladder Health UK while documenting all the different hills I can explore. Im hoping that not only do I manage to raise some money for charity but also inspire other people to get outdoors and enjoy the beauty of nature and our surroundings. Friends and family are welcome to join me along the way. This isnt just a challenge, it's also for fun ❤️