On the 29th January 2015 Sheila Blenkin will fly out to Tanzania with a group of 20-25 strangers and the next day start her 7 day trek on the Lemosho Trail with “Action Challenge” to climb the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain/volcano in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,896m or 19,341ft above sea level.
Though the climb is technically not as challenging as climbing the high peaks of the Himalayas or Andes, the high elevation, low temperature (Sheila will be sleeping in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius), and occasional high winds make this a difficult and dangerous trek. The group will travel through rainforest, over plateaus and along valleys until reaching the summit at Uhuru Peak where there is only 50% of the oxygen in the air than at sea level.
As part of her training Sheila has completed 3 UK marathon walks over the last 10 months including the London Moonwalk in May of last year.
Sheila said “I have no doubt it will be the hardest challenge I have ever faced and way more difficult than my last big charity gig of ‘clearing the beaches and building new houses’ in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami. This is a personal challenge for me to complete before I reach the big 50 (which of course means that I have over a year to reach summit!) but it is also for a greater cause. My trip is self-funded so all the money I raise through sponsorship and fundraising events will go to the Butterwick Hospice to ‘keep it local’.”
Fundraiser Laura said “It is fantastic that Sheila is taking on this challenge to raise funds for Butterwick Hospice. As well as working and training she has arranged several events over the last year including a non-uniform day at Cocktail Hill Infant School and charity day at Bishop Barrington to boost her fundraising and so far she has raised over £3,000 which is a fantastic achievement. Thank you for your commitment and we wish you all the best with your trek!”
If you would like to make a donation to Butterwick please visit https://www.justgiving.com/Sheila-Blenkin/
