Ann and Ella are trekking to Everest Base Camp to raise money for the charity PAPYRUS, which is dedicated to the prevention of suicide in young people: the biggest killer of people aged 35 and under in the UK. Ella’s closest friend was struck down by mental illness at the young age of 17. She spent much of the next 5 years in hospital receiving treatment and is now on the road to recovery.

PAPYRUS saved her life by providing a free 24 hours a day (every day of the year) HOPELINE247 which provides confidential support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide and anyone worried about a young person, and is staffed by trained suicide prevention advisers. We hope that by trekking to Everest Base Camp we can help PAPYRUS keep more young people safe from suicide.

We are doing this trek to coincide with Suicide Prevention month which takes place in the month of September. From Kathmandu, Nepal we will fly to Lukla (2,800m), to begin an 8-day, 130 km climb to base camp at a final elevation of 5,364m followed by a 4-day trek back. To prep for this adventure, we have been busy swimming and training in the gym 5-6 days a week. We also escaped London a few times to climb Mount Snowdon (1,039 m), Croagh Patrick (764 m) and Mount Errigal (751 m) but the Everest Base Camp trek is another level of difficulty and managing the effects of altitude on the body adds significantly to the challenge of this trek!

As a way of showing support for our cause we are gratefully accepting donations to our JustGiving site so that PAPYRUS can keep their vital services running.

We are paying for all expenses associated with this charity trek ourselves so everything you donate will go direct to the charity. For more information about the charity PAPYRUS please visit their website (papyrus-uk.org).

We will be sharing our journey on our Instagram account ‘mumandmegotrekking’, feel free to follow along for updates on our adventure!