Following the publishing of my article in the local paper (which will be my next post) I received some backlash from people who don’t understand the point of doing a Challenge for charity. So here’s a few by the bys to set things straight, it’s the second and last time I will explain myself :)
1. When you sign up for an event like this you pay the fees upfront when you register all your details – flights, food, accommodation. It is paid before you can even set up a fundraising page so everything I raise goes straight to the charity. So no need to worry it’s all paid for by ME and has been since October. All the kit is also bought by me out of the money I earn from my full-time job – most of which will be donated to the locals once we have finished to do what they wish with i.e. use them themselves or to give to other trekkers who may need them.
2. Everest is a challenge for even the most experienced walkers. Nothing will prepare us for the altitude, temperatures etc which my fellow novice climbers and I will experience. Everest is a Help For Heroes official Challenge. It was set up by the charity and we were given the chance to do it.
3. Past experience has shown me that people don’t like to be walked up to in the streets with a tin being thrown in their face (I personally find it extremely rude), I don’t like directly asking people for money as everyone prefers their own charities or don’t believe in them at all and I would not like to force money out of peoples pockets. I’d rather make it known I’m fundraising so people can give money to the charity through me as many people – especially the elderly – don’t have access to the internet or know where else to go to donate.
4. I skydived and raised over £1200 in about 4 months or so. By doing Everest I have raised over double that in the same amount of time and still have 6 months of fundraising left. The bigger the event, the more money you raise for the charity… By doing this the whole group will raise at least £100,000… it’s unreal how much that will help people.
5. Skydiving is seen as a challenge by many people but when it came to jumping out I really wasn’t fussed. I have no fear of heights. So it never challenged me. I have no real phobias. But I can be quite lazy, opting for buses and taxis! So by trekking that is challenging me, I have been training since November last year so I did realise how hard this was going to be but I am physically fit now and about to embark on intense training in the next month.
6. Fellow trekkers have already been on local TV for the trek and we have a famous model on our team so don’t think this will be the last you hear of it.
7. This is not an “unrealistic dream” it’s happening so is hardly unrealistic or a dream :)
That’s the last I’ll comment on anything mentioned in this post, it’s quite crazy that people would be negative about this event. This post aims to prove that any negative comments don’t have 2 legs to stand on :) I’ll be updating my blog more with the different training weekends, fundraisers etc I have lined up with video blogs etc once the trek is complete! Thanks to everyone who is supporting me, thanks to anyone that comes to the curry karaoke and to anyone that sponsors me! My family and I appreciate it and I’m sure other wounded soldiers and their families do too!
Tags: haters news
* A little snippet of me on the front cover :)
* The full article.
* And by top they mean halfway :)
* The full article – hope you can all make it out!
