Day 1: Arrival In Tanzania

By Bethany Ansell

After 3 long flights and a bumpy bus ride the climbers have arrived safely in Tanzania and checked into the Sal Salinero Hotel, Moshi. Apparently they could see the mountain on the way to the hotel and Ben Wain commented that 'it's very big'!!

Below are a few pictures we've been sent by Tommy Lillington from the flight. To donate, please click here.

Jane Massey and Ben Wain

Jack Daniels

Jaime and Lee Burton

Lee Burton (I'm sure he'll thank you for this one Tommy)

Tom Caulfield and Carole Landon

Tom Caulfield

Thank You From Tommy

By Tommy Lillington

Ok so the time has come to depart and head off to that mountain - what a year it has been! When I reflect on 2013 I remember back to that first meeting when I saw faces around the table that I had never seen before - not realising how quickly these people would become my friends. I remember the hours and hours we have spent walking the amazing Dorset coast as well as the fundraising events where we met wonderful people who found time to come along and support our wonderful charity.

Most of all though I remember the laughter. I have laughed a lot over the last year and that's the great thing about hiking - you can still enjoy banter while you train. I have to say though; the reason for this article is not just for reflection, it is also for me to say a few thank yous and (at risk of this now sounding like an acceptance speech) I will now do so...

Firstly I want to thank all my friends who have put up with my endless Facebook posts and sponsorship pleas over the last 12 months - thanks guys for following my journey.

I want to thank those of you who have supported our chosen charity; whether through attending and supporting fundraising events or through your very kind donations - thank you so much.

I want to thank each and everyone of my fellow climbers who have had to put with Tommy Lillington in their lives for 12 months. It's been a roller coaster but we are here and as ready as we can ever be.

Thank you Bethany for blogging my updates over the last 12 months. You are doing this as a good friend of the climbing group and I just want you to know that it is really appreciated.

I would also like to thank Jack Daniels for kicking off this whole crazy idea and without whom none of this would have happened. I want you to know that your hard work throughout the year is really appreciated - thank you Jack.

Lastly I want to say my biggest thank you to my amazing family; my two amazing boys who have had to put up with Dads ramblings for the last year but never complained and have given great support to their old man. To hear both of them tell me how proud they are makes me want to burst - thank you boys I love you very much.

Now onto my biggest thank you..to my wonderful wife who has been there for me for the whole year. Thank you for coming on training walks with me, kicking my arse when needed and providing emotional backup all the way. Natasha Lillington you are the most wonderful person and I thank and love you so much. I promise you that you will get me back in 2014 - thank you xxx

Thanks again everyone wish me luck and I will see you on the other side :-) 

If you would like to sponsor Tommy Lillington, please click here: http://www.justgiving.com/Tommy-Lillington

The Last Blog Post Before We Go

My 4 and 6 year old babies who are being very grown up about us going away!

By Jaime Burton

So we have 2 more sleeps before we fly out to Kilimanjaro on Friday! What have I been doing to prepare? Well I have been using the altitude machine as much as possible. Its been hard to find an hour out of my day to sit down and breathe less air! The children often came with me and they asked many questions about the machine. Jack and Tanya have put up with an army of people coming through their house over the past few weeks to have a go...starting as early as 7am and me often being the last at 7pm! Thank you both for letting us all invade your home.

Jack and I decided we needed to stretch our legs one day so headed over to Maiden Castle for a quick 11k walk. It did decide to totally tip down with rain and we had to stop to get waterproofs on. This was the first time Jack had used his hood and it was very entertaining. It came right down over his eyes and he couldn't see a thing. I laughed the whole way round everytime I looked at him. My boots got totally caked in mud and they are still sat by the door waiting for me to clean them off!

We have all been using the altitude training machine as much as possible 

I have spoken to the children every day about the climb and explained Mummy and Daddy will be gone for 11 sleeps. We are taking them out for a treat after school on Thursday to Toys R Us and a meal out. I am very proud of my 4 and 6 year old babies who are being very grown up about us going away. 

So mentally I'm there and ready to climb. Although a slight set back is that I have not felt very well for a few days now with a cold threatening to take over...I have never taken so many tablets and odd remedies! I have just eaten a spoonful of Manuka Honey. YUK! So hopefully I can fight it off because if it decides to set in my chances of summit are very slim! Its hard enough to breath fit and healthy so having a simple little cold will almost defiantly result in problems. So I have everything crossed and hope I recover quickly.

A slight set back is that I have not felt very well for a few days now

We had our send off at Durnovaria on Monday and it was lovely to see so many people come and wish us well. It was a chance for me to say thank you to my big sponsors Read Woodruff Accountancy and Rhino Fencing. Thanks again for your amazing support over the year.

So this is it! Bags are almost packed and I start on malaria tablets tonight. One more day at work tomorrow and I am finally there. It has been a challenge just to get to the bus in the car park with all the fundraising and events over the year. Thank you by the way to everyone who came to the Christmas Party, it was such a great night. I hope to post a couple of Facebook statuses while I am gone and someone will get a call when I get to the top...so keep your phone on Mum!

Good luck to everyone in the group. See you at the Top of Town car park on Friday at 2.30pm. To anyone who would like to sponsor me, please click here: http://www.justgiving.com/Jaime-Ella-Burton

The Barranco Wall which we will be climbing over next Thursday I think!

A Good Send-Off

Last night we gathered at Durnovaria in Dorchester to officially wave goodbye to our Kilimanjaro charity climbers before they leave for Tanzania on Friday. It was emotional and exciting as all 13 climbers posed together for a group photo with Stella Jones, the Mayor of Dorchester.

Dorchester Town Crier Alistair Chisholm cited some verses written specially for the occasion, which went down very well. Following this Mayor Stella Jones said a few words of support and our very own chairman Ben King gave a moving speech to recognise the huge difference the climbers are making to the lives of those struggling in our local area.

Amongst those in attendance was Kalli Wright, a 2 year-old girl suffering from Wilms Tumours on her kidneys (pictured above with mum Jodie Critchell and climber Ben Wain). The Steve Charles Help A Friend Fund has been helping to fund trips to Southampton for chemotherapy as well as travel and accommodation expenses for two major operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Also mentioned as a recipient of charity support during the event was 14 year-old Rian Harvey, a student from Thomas Hardy School currently receiving treatment for acute Myeloid Leukemia. Unfortunately he was unable to attend as he was staying in Southampton General Hospital at the time.

We would like to thank the staff of Durnovaria for hosting the event and providing nibbles and drinks. They are great supporters of the charity and will be keeping you all updated on where our climbers are on the mountain by writing on their wall - no not their Facebook wall, their real wall!

Our 13 climbers are scaling Kilimanjaro not just to raise awareness but to collect funds for The Steve Charles Help A Friend Fund. Please support them and us by donating on our JustGiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/schaff.

Less Than One Week To Go

By Barney and Charlotte

With less than one week to go, all our gear is packed, vaccinations sorted, visa in the passport and all our necessary medication obtained. It seems like it’s been a long year in the making, with plenty of training walks completed and numerous charity events attended. It now boils down to just one thing…climbing Mount Kilimanjaro!!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who generously donated their time, venues and prizes to help raise money and awareness for The Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund. It’s been a tough year training and raising money for this event but all the hard work has paid off. The Charity has really grown over this past year with all the time and effort that the whole team has put in.

While we can’t thank every single individual that has donated we would like to mention the businesses that have contributed greatly, either through our events or through continual support. Those are as follows:

Glyn & Beth Worthington – The Galley Bistro Weymouth

David & Joy Scadden – Sunny Days Nurseries Ltd.

Barry Whettingsteel - Dorset Digital Solutions

Gary & Ali Record – Lazy Lizard

Lewis Taylor - BoHo

Chris Coghlan – JuiceBox Handmade Instruments

Jerry Butcher - ApotsPhoto

Dorset Cereals

Fulvio Figliolini – Rossis Ices

Rob and Terri Cole – The Esplanade Hotel

Andy Steel – Personal Trainer

Steph Geran – South Coast Equestrian

Chris Piercy – Magician

Billy Hutchinson, Olly Coe & Josh Ellis – The Leggomen

Mark Storey & David Powell

Nathan Bennett - UDL

Wendy Buckingham – The Spice Ship, Preston

Olives Et Al, Poundbury Garden Centre

…and last but not least…

The Bands: Shooter, Hustle, Stereoironics, Lo Numbers & The Jolly Boys Outing

Huge apologies if we have forgotten anyone. Your support has not gone unnoticed and we’re very grateful for the generous donations we have received.

We look forward to sharing this amazing experience with you. If you would like to follow us you can do so here: http://www.privateexpeditions.com/blog/

See you on the other side…

Barney & Charlotte

Sponsor Barney here: http://www.justgiving.com/Barney-Stevens

Sponsor Charlotte here: http://www.justgiving.com/Charlotte-Watts88

Support From River Cottage

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has expressed his support for the Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund charity climbers by being photographed holding a personal message. The morale-boosting note reads 'Good luck Help a Friend Help a Friend Climbers! Don't stop 'til you reach the top! Love Hugh x x'.

River Cottage regularly supports the Steve Charles Help a Friend Fund and Hugh's message has been well received by the climbers set to scale Mt. Kilimanjaro next month.

We will be following the journey of the climbers so keep checking back for updates or click to subscribe on the panel to the right.

If you would like to donate, please click on the climber you wish to sponsor above or visit http://hafhaf.co.uk/.

Altitude Training

By Jaime Burton

When I research how altitude can affect you, I often read it’s like your worst hangover and you have to climb a mountain. So a few of us thought it would be a good idea to try this out. Tommy, Jack, Tim, Lee and I took part in a night of Wine Tasting at Kingston Country Courtyard - a fantastic and funny night which went on into the early hours. I decided I liked the champagne which is odd as I normally don’t like it at all! There was a Sancerre to try and on first thoughts I was not overly impressed.. I didn’t dislike it but it was nothing special. I think I said…‘I’ve had more exciting things on my palette!’ Anyway after trying everything else I went back to the Sancerre and decided it was actually rather lovely! The port was pretty special too! So as you can imagine after a few hours of these lovely wines and some cheeses, we were definitely set for some altitude training the next day!

8.30 was time for breakfast and I woke at 8.10 which for me is a lovely long lie in. I woke up raring to go. I was actually quite well behaved on the wine tasting and skipped most of the reds so wasn’t feeling very hung over. Lee was also rather spritely! There was a loud knock on the door and there stood Jack looking a bit like death! Our call for Breakfast. Yummy. Lee and I headed over to meet the others but there was no Tommy...apparently he wasn’t feeling very well! Jack struggled with his breakfast although managed it in the end after a lot of complaining about being ill!.Then there he was...Tommy. Oh my I have never seen such a sight. He was very white and not looking very good at all. He attempted breakfast but failed, couldn’t face it. So we got our boots on and set off! 

It was a gorgeous walk and very much needed to blow the cobwebs away. The first hill was almost the last for Tommy! Him and Jack were struggling with 'altitude' sickness and it almost became too much. We supplied Tommy with Lucozade and a banana to try and keep him going. If you know Tommy you will know he is always chipper and full of banter. There was none of this, he was quiet and kept his head down. He used every inch of will power he had to get round the walk. It was tough! 

At one stage we decided to leave Tommy in peace and let him take his own pace while Tim, Lee Jack and I walked on ahead. He needed some time to focus! And focus he did as after about 20 minutes we looked back to see where the others were and were surprised to see Tommy had picked up some pace. When he got to us he said that he had given himself a good talking to and snapped out of it. He was ready to go! So we all picked up pace and ran past the car park to beat all the other walkers back to Kingston to get a shower before lunch. In fact we even decided to run the last bit up the road. After the state they were in first thing Tommy and Jack managed it back. Tim didn’t seem to affected by the altitude training method.

After a quick shower and change we sat down for dinner. Well some of us did...the place was manic and Jack ended up helping out in the kitchen and serving, so he didn’t get to sit down and eat his dinner. We left at 4pm and he then started on the washing up! So thank you Jack for allowing us to sit on our bums and enjoy a lovely meal. 

So all in all a fantastic weekend. Our altitude training method did work and gave us a taste of how hard its going to be. The hills that we normally run up could hardly be walked up! Legs were like jelly and overall feeling very sick. So you see its not a walk in the park this Kilimanjaro stuff and for 7 days we are going to be hurting, but do you know what will get us through it? Knowing that we have raised money for a great charity, helping out families likes Rian's. He will certainly be on my mind and helping me focus to get through it. Now we have a leaving bash at Durnovaria on the 6th January so it would be good to see some people there supporting us and giving us a bit of a send off.

Click here to sponsor Jaime: