Bex Okotel (right) and Lucy Swift (long-term volunteer) have succeeded in climbing a Ugandan mountain to raise money for our school.
They originally planned to climb the 6,864 ft Wanale Ridge – part of the huge Mount Elgon massif – last year, but it was delayed due to bad weather and slippery conditions.
Wanale ridge looms over Mbale, where Child of Hope works. The ascent to its peak is exhilarating, complete with precipices, escarpments, deep valleys, water streaked cliffs, caves and rocks.
Bex and Lucy prepared for many months, building up their fitness at a local gym. On the climb, they were accompanied by Simon and Percy, members of our Ugandan staff.
Lucy said: “According to my Fitbit the distance was eight miles, but all of that seemed either straight up or straight down! The first part was pretty challenging as it involved lots of scrambling on very steep slopes and treading over gullies with sheer drops. We also had to climb two ladders at places where the rocks would be too steep to climb. The temperature was in the early 30s, so it was a bit of a slog!”
They did really well, so if you’d like to support them by donating , please click here to go to their JustGiving fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/BexLucy. JustGiving sends your donation straight to Child of Hope and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you are a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more.
Would you like to do some fundraising for Child of Hope and all the great kids we work with? You won't have to climb a mount like Bex and Lucy (unless you want to), or the London Marathon like Keith, but there are lots of ways you can join in.
For some ideas and more information, please click here for our fundraising page.