Barney Stevens

Barney Stevens, drummer

It's not every day you are given the opportunity to do something as challenging as this. After hearing about Jack and Benny's crazy idea to scale Kilimanjaro (having stated they hate walking and camping) I thought straight away "could i do it too?"

It didn't take me too long to make the decision to join them. A once in a lifetime opportunity. I am aware of the work they have both put in raising awareness of The Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund and after talking to Jack about it decided that I wanted to do it and help them promote the charity.

I have never pushed myself into such a challenge so wanted to be able to prove to myself that I could do it. I think that attempting it with people you know will make it that little bit easier as moral support and teamwork will be the key to such a big challenge.

I'm nervously excited about the climb but I know that nothing can prepare you for the actual event. Yes you can train and be ready physically but such a huge challenge is going to be mentally exhausting too. Altitude sickness will also play a huge part as nobody knows how it will effect them until we are there.

I want to go into the challenge knowing that I can reach the summit but after the first meeting with all the guys and hearing what Tommy had to say about his 3 peaks challenge, I can only go as far as I can and if I had to stop at any point I would know that I have climbed as far as I can take myself. That in itself for me is a success I still get to attempt Kilimanjaro and in the process, raise awareness for The Steve Charles Help A Friend Fund.

I'm very much looking forward to being part of a successful team climb.

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