Kilimanjaro Challenge

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and for so long it has seemed like it would be out of my reach. That is, until someone wonderful close to me gave me the shove I needed and signed me up as a gift for my 30th birthday. A couple of years ago my fitness and health were so bad I couldn't even run for more than about 2 minutes and now, thanks to that same person I have completed 5 triathlons, 2 half marathons and a variety of other physical challenges, which hopefully means I will be able to get to the top of Kili! I have chosen to do my challenge with a company called Action Challenge. I chose this company as they have an academy for their local employees, mainly the porters they employ to help visitors get to the top. The academy means that they get a proper education, are taught English and are offered the opportunity to learn so that they can better themselves for their future and the future of their families. The company also ensures the porters are treated and paid fairly. The reason I am looking for funding is because up until a year ago I had a savings plan in place which would ensure I had saved the correct amount to enable me to pay for the trip. Unfortunately, since then, I have been unemployed and working on contract roles, making it next to impossible to save enough. I am now securely employed, but losing that year has had a real impact on my ability to save correctly. If I want to do the trip as planned I need to pay the balance at Christmas 2014, which at the moment is looking extremely unlikely. I hope that there are some kind people out there that will donate what they can to enable me to achieve my dream of climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Any excess funds raised will be donated to the Action Challenge Academy. Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for any support. In addition, I will be continuing my fundraising and saving offline in addition to this project