Introduction

In early February this year I got an email from Nigel Payne who I met when I did my first climb of Kilimanjaro in 2009. Nigel said he was preparing to organise another climb of Kili in memory of his mother. Knowing that Breastcancercare is a cause close to my heart and also as we both successfully reached the summit of Kili in 2009, Nigel asked me if I would like to climb a second time with the group. It did not take me long to accept the invitation. I see this as a great challenge as I can help those first timers in the group and I can hopefully prepare myself better this time. Although, after speaking to my CYM friends, who climbed again this year, each attempt is different and who knows whether I can reach Uhuru Peak a second time.... we shall see !!

Sponsored by Sportingbet plc the climb is in support of The Injured Jockeys Fund and Breast Cancer. Further details can be found on our charity page. Thanks to Sportingbet we are able to assure donors that 100% of their donations (plus gift aid if appropriate) will be passed on to the charities without deduction.

I am looking forward to the preparation and training and also meeting the rest of the team later this year. I plan to record my training progress in this blog and look into some of the holistic ways of dealing with altitude sickness which should be interesting !

Thanks to my family who have given me their support and encouragement and to special friends for your support this year – you know who you are.