A CORBRIDGE woman is preparing to trek almost 20,000ft to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for a children’s charity.
Despite admitting her lack of experience in distance walking and camping, Fiona Railson has agreed to take on the seven-day challenge which will see her tackle sections of rain forest, alpine slopes and alpine desert in support of Smile For Life.
The Gosforth-based charity supports disabled and disadvantaged children across the North-East by providing specialist equipment, respite days and work experience opportunities at a community cafe.
“Smile For Life was chosen by a staff vote as the company’s nominated charity,” explained Fiona (41) who works as a PA at Newcastle accountancy firm UNW LLP.
“I’m not a walker or a camper, but I met with the chief executive of the charity and it’s such an amazing opportunity to support them, so I thought I'd give it a go.”
Fiona is one of 20 fund-raisers for the charity who will fly out to Tanzania on October 21; the climb will begin the following day in Moshi.
The group will follow the Machame Route up Kilimanjaro until they reach Uhuru Peak.
Fiona added: “I live in the perfect area to get out walking, so I’ve been doing a lot of local routes around Corbridge and along Hadrian’s Wall to prepare.
“I’ve been trying to increase the mileage each time.”
After setting a target of £2,500, Fiona has already raised more than £700 via her online fund-raising page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Fiona-Railson
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