By Clare Parkin
You know the old saying, ‘nothing worthwhile doing is ever going to be easy’? That principle certainly applies to the challenge I have set myself. I am on a quest to fundraise a grand total of £2790 for the Charity ‘Dig Deep Africa,’ whose vision is ‘a world in which every community is able to access sustainable water, sanitation and energy supplies in order to empower local people to overcome challenges they face.’ The concluding part of my mission is to embark on a momentous hike up Mount Kilimanjaro; the world’s largest free Standing Mountain and the highest point on the continent- The Roof of Africa.
So why have I decided to do this somewhat crazy task? I’m sure a lot of us have those ‘top 100 things to do before you die list,’ and this funnily enough is on my ‘to do’ the list. It was an opportunity I didn’t necessarily seek out, I was just on my way back from a lecture and noticed the poster in the forum. From then on I kept seeing the same poster on all the Uni walls and received a couple of emails- I decided that this was a sign that I was meant to do it, whether it was a sign or not is another story, but that’s where the challenge all begun.
I know it is not going to be easy after reading horror stories about the severity of altitude sickness, the lack of nice food- which in my books is a big problem amongst other issues, but being a keen runner and triathlete, I always like a test.
I thought I would share my fundraising efforts with HCX reader to perhaps inspire you to try and cross off any challenges on your own ‘to do’ list, or to simply start your own fundraising campaign for issues you feel strongly about.
I have some exciting events lined up which loads of you can get involved in, of course I’m sure they’ll be the obligatory cake sale, but there will be events such as special fitness classes from the sports park teachers, a themed fashion show, competitions amongst sports teams amongst many other events and I’ll do my best to arrange events to embarrass lecturers in some form. Whilst arranging these events I am also in training for a sponsored half marathon and then a half-iron man consisting of a 3k swim, followed by a half marathon, so donations are always welcome to my just giving page at www.justgiving.com/Clare-Parkin
So my next few months are certainly going to be busy but if all goes according to plan, very exciting! Keep an eye on my blog to keep up to date with all the fundraising.
Until Next time
Clare xx
Image Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s…