A group of twelve Gwent business people have signed up to climb Africa’s highest peak in aid of the Sparkle Appeal.
The Kilimanjaro 2014 team is preparing to summit the 5,892m Mount Kilimanjaro in February 2014 with the aim of raising at least £6,000 for the local charity.
The 2014 team consists of Clive Thomas and Lisa Guscott of law firm Watkins & Gunn Solicitors, John Hardaker of Yellow Dragon, Andrew Thomas of A.F Thomas & Sons, Mike Hatherall of Mike Hatherall IT Consultancy, Roger Thompson of Pegasus Whirlpool Baths, massage therapist Tig Bidmead, Carly Davies and Sarah Jane Watts of Summerhill Veterinary Centre, Nigel Davies of ND Chartered Management Accountants, foster carer Peter Hopkins and Jonathan Rees of The Screen Fix.
In preparation for the gruelling challenge, the team is embarking on a rigorous training regime with a number of practise walks up mountains including Pen Y Fan, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons.
The team are also fundraising heavily through a series of events including a recent Man v Pie competition at the Dragon’s Rugby Stadium, organised by Lisa Guscott, and a Gala Dinner in October with a special guest performance by international singer Bruce Lester Johnson.
Sparkle was formed in 2003 with the aim of building and equipping a state-of-the-art centre to help the thousands of families in South Gwent caring for a disabled child. The Sparkle Appeal has led to the building of a purpose built children’s centre, Serennu, which provides treatment and assessment facilities, information, and leisure activities for over a thousand children with complex and special needs in South Gwent.
On choosing the charity, Clive Thomas, managing partner of Watkins & Gunn Solicitors, said: “As Gwent business people we wanted to support a Gwent charity and having taken a tour of the children’s centre at Sparkle, we were very impressed with their work.
“Through generous donations, the charity has recently been able to create a multi-games facility outside and have put a hoist in the swimming pool changing room- so the children feel like Peter Pan as they fly across the pool like the stars of the show rather than being embarrassed about getting into the pool. However, there is still so much more specialist equipment that the children need so we’re hoping to raise as much money as possible through our charity climb to help them to do so.”
Carla Hopkins of Sparkle said: “Serennu would not be here today without the incredible support of the local community and our friends in business. Without this facility, families would have to travel across the county to attend up to 20 appointments a month for their children to access all of the multiple services they need.
“We are enormously grateful to the Kilimanjaro 2014 team members who have signed up to complete this huge challenge. They have already organised some fantastic fundraising events with many more in the pipeline for the rest of the year.
“Our previous groups have excellent success rates for trekkers reaching the summit, but our 2014 challengers must not underestimate the challenge ahead. Most trekkers will never have experienced anything as tough as this, but the sense of achievement on reaching the summit is something that can never be matched. We wish them all the luck with their practise endeavours and look forward to watching their progress.”