News and Updates

Hello everyone ! We hope to update this page regularly to let you know how our fundraising is going and to tell you about any events we are organising. Please bookmark this page and come back again soon !

*** April update ***

Hello everyone - we're back! Sorry we haven't updated this sooner but it's taken us quite a while to get back into the swing of 'normal' life!

We will add a fuller account of our trek soon, but here's a brief snippet. The climb went very well; Julia didn't make it to the very top but Steve did. The group all set off for the final summit ascent on the 5th day (setting off at midnight...), but Julia and another girl had to turn back before the summit because of breathing difficulties and severe chest pain. Not altitude sickness as such, but the effects of altitude, and not to be messed with. It was disappointing for Julia not to make the summit but not worthing wrecking her lungs for!

The whole thing was a fabulous experience. The scenery was incredible - we were above the clouds for most of the climb - and the group got on very well. The day we spent at the Amani Children's Home was amazing - they put on a drumming and dancing display for us, which could have felt a bit contrived but the truth is they would dance all day if they had the chance, and an audience is just an added bonus! It was great to finally visit Amani, and to meet some of the staff and children, and also to see the new home which is nearly finished.

We will upload our photos very soon so please come back and take a look. Our fundraising has been going very well - we've now raised over £5300 - but our Justgiving page remains open for business!

*** February update ***

A big thank you to the congregation of St Peter's Church, Wolvercote for their generous donations after today's service (18 Feb): you have added £149.06 towards our target!

Only 2 weeks to go! It's hard to believe that we'll soon be visiting the Amani Children's Home and then setting off to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, but we can't wait.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. We've raised over £4000, which is fabulous. We're still aiming to reach our target of £5895 - so please don't think it's too late to donate! We also hope to do a few more car boot sales over the spring and summer.

When we get back - and once we've recovered - we will add an account of our journey here, with photos, hopefully including one of us both on the summit - fingers crossed! Please come back and have a look! 

*** October update ***

Long time no update! Thanks to everyone who has donated - whether money or goods to sell - helping us to reach over £2500. Here are some of the ways we're hoping to double that:

-- "Disappearing glaciers and altitude sickness: a view from Peru", a talk with slides by climate change expert Mark Lynas, Wednesday 29 Nov, 8pm, in Lecture Room 23, Balliol College, Broad Street, Oxford. Tickets £3, available from Julia (01865 513106) or on the door.

-- BrightMinds fundraising catalogue (www.brightminds.co.uk): if you buy something and quote our source code FR-2608, we receive 10% of the value of your order (if you'd prefer a real catalogue to browse through, please let me know).

-- Webb Ivory fundraising catalogue: we receive up to 25% of the value of orders made, so please let me know if you would like a catalogue. We place the orders so postage is free for you!

-- Ebay sales: I am now selling books, clothes, CDs, etc, that have been donated. Please look out for kili_charity_climb (my ebay user id) and bid generously!

We will also be selling stuff at the Wolvercote School Craft Fair on Saturday 18 Nov and at the Kassam Stadium car boot sale on Sunday 19 Nov (thanks to Marie-Laure for helping with this).

*** July update ***

* Congratulations to Don Franklin, who won our World Cup competition, and to Georgina O'Connell, who won the under-18s category - and thanks to everyone who took part!

*** May update ***

* We are joining in with World Cup fever and are running a tipster competition: all you have to do is predict the results of World Cup matches - what could be easier? It's only £3 an entry and the winner will take away 50% of the kitty with the other 50% going toward our fundraising target. Email us for more details. And don't feel that you have to be a pundit to take part: think how satisfying it would be to win if you don't even understand the offside rule!

*** April update ***

* We have teamed up with SHP Solutions, a mobile phone recycling company: for every old handset we send them, we raise money for Amani! So if you are updating your mobile phone, please let us have your old one.

* The diet starts here! Julia has begun her training programme, slowly but surely, starting with power walking and swimming. Any tips on how to stay on the straight and narrow, and away from the path of biscuits and wickedness, are very welcome!

*** March update ***

* We've raised over £1000! We still have quite a way to go but it feels great to reach this milestone!

* Thanks to everyone who has donated online and offline, and given us goods to sell. Special thanks go to St Michael's Players, Taunton, who put on a show in February and raised £400 for us (see pictures here).

* Please come to our quiz evening. Thanks to Wolvercote School for letting us use their hall.

* If you visit our site, please leave a message. It makes us feel loved!