We did it!

We summited Mount Kilimanjaro at c. 11am on Thursday 14 October 2022, 3 1/2 years after we signed up to do the trek and raise funds for the Mental Health Foundation.

Thank you to all those who supported us both financially and emotionally during that 3 1/2 year period, and also to the wonderful team of people we did the trek with. It really was a once in a lifetime experience. Thanks also to Gowling WLG Charitable Trust for the huge £2500 matched funding donation.

Our fundraising page will close on 28 February but there is still time to donate to this very worthy cause.

Thanks again

Sue, Kath and Mike xxx

We are raising funds to help the Mental Health Foundation continue to make a difference.

We are Sue Ryan, her best friend, Kath Grant, and Kath's husband, Mike.

We all grew up in Neston on the Wirral and went to school together at Neston Comp.

In October 2022, we’ll be spending 9 days in Tanzania. During this time we will be climbing the biggest free standing mountain in Africa and the world, Kilimanjaro. At 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) above sea level this will be a huge challenge for us, both mentally and physically. We'll not only be coping with the cold and hostile environment of the mountain but also trying to avoid going down with altitude sickness. Together, we will summit on 13 October 2022, a few days after 10 October which is World Mental Health Day.

We are passionate about this cause, with both my sisters and I having suffered with our mental health in the past and with all of us knowing friends and other family who have and continue to struggle. We want to help with the prevention of mental health problems and for our children and grandchildren not to face these issues or if they do, to know that there is help out there.

Now, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the strains on our mental health services are even more apparent.

Please help us to raise these much needed funds to enable the Mental Health Foundation to continue to educate and prevent increases in mental health problems and to provide support to those struggling both now and in the future.

Thank you so much for your generous donations

Sue, Kath and Mike xx

August 2022 update - it's really happening ...

Kath and Sue took off up Snowdon again - up and down via the Pyg Trail in very good time.

Update: January 2020

Kath, Sue, Dottie and Izzy took a quick Sunday morning trek up Moel Fammau. We got there early and were lucky with the weather which was breezy but quite warm.

Update: November 2019

So, we've started our training! For Sue's birthday we spent the weekend in a cottage in the Snowdonia National Park, and took on the tallest mountain in Wales, Snowdon. After night temperatures of -4* and an early start it was a beautiful sunny day, albeit the ground was frozen solid. We tackled the Pyg Trail which, being on the dark side of the mountain, was treacherous, climbing up stone covered in solid ice. On the way up we learned that someone had frozen to death the day before near the summit having strayed off the path.

We got to within 20 minutes of the summit but decided not to risk it, with climbers coming down telling us how frozen and treacherous it was. Still, it was a good trek and good practice.