TEAM MT KILIMANJARO:  Sunil, Richard, Olivia, Rebecca,                                    Swathi, Natasha, Karishma and Joseph 

This August, we are excited (albeit slightly apprehensive) to say that we are taking on the challenge of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. We have been training and planning to climb Kilimanjaro via the Machame route, also referred to as the "Whisky route"; hoping to reach the Uhuru Peak at 5895m in an action packed six-day climb.

 

We will be attempting this expedition in aid of two charities close to our hearts; the first is a local school in Moshi, Tanzania and the second is our UCL Medical school charity “Spectrum”. 

 

Spectrum is our very own UCL volunteering society. It has pioneered a group of medical students to be paired with children in the Camden area with disabilities; thus is both a respite care scheme and also enables us to lead Residential trips and local activity sports days for the families involed. Although a humble charity with a simple philosophy of continuity and working alongside local communities, it is unique in the way that medical students are paired with their child from the start to end of our medical school course. The framework of the charity also spans across medical students, Paediatricians, junior doctors and the families themselves - and this communication allows for the best possible development for both the kids and volunteers. 

 

A number of us have been involved in the Spectrum Volunteering society since starting UCL two years ago. Spectrum has now won the “UCL Volunteering society of the Year” twice in a row. The number of parents and Camden council organisations approaching the charity to be included in the scheme has risen dramatically. To try and expand our outreach in a climate of vast economic cuts in the welfare sector, we thought what better cause to raise money for.

 

We are writing to ask for your kind support - any donation big or small would be really appreciated. We have set up a gift-aid website on which it is easy to donate online; the link is http://www.justgiving.com/rumskilimanjaroclimb.

 

Thank you in advance for your kindness and we promise to capture a group picture at the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro - we hope we make it!