In June, along with a whole gang of other brilliant women all with curvy spines and metalwork, I'm climbing Snowdon/Yr Wyddfa to raise money for Scoliosis Support and Research.

I was diagnosed with scoliosis when I was 13 and it progressed so quickly that I had to have surgery 18 months later to straighten my spine with the help of two 30cm long metal rods, a whole lot of screws and a(nother) hardcore scar. For all the stiffness, it's only because of this surgery that I'm able to breathe easily and think about climbing a mountain without my spine squashing my lung the way it did before my op. I'm very good at joking about it now, but it was a huge thing to go through and in honesty, it's only more recently, two decades on from my diagnosis, that I've started to get my head around it and the quirks of my body, thanks to an incredible Instagram community and amazing pilates classes.

I realise that in this economy, there are hundreds of good causes that need your cash. I'm also aware that climbing a mountain is an average Saturday activity for some of you, or what we spent far too many childhood holidays doing, and not nearly as hardcore as marathons and the like. (Yes Dad, we know you ran the London one twice in the 1980s and yes, it was a very fast time.)

But the solidarity of Kebab Spine Club which we've all discovered through this, and the relatability of not being able to bend over or get into cars without hitting our heads, is properly special. I'd have loved seeing something like this when I was 14 and approaching such a massive operation, and we're doing it in the hope that the support and knowledge of life beyond it will be there for today's scoli patients.

If everyone who liked my daft viral tweet gave a penny, it'd smash my target. If a few of you donated the cost of a pint, or even a round, I'd be very grateful.

Big love,

Hannah/Richie x