The People You Meet Along the Way: Time to get my 'Diva' on...! Shishapangma and ChoOyu 2015

Just 7% of sports media coverage is devoted to women. Only 1 in 10 people who enquire about expeditions are women. Research by universities and other sports foundations in the UK found that 2 million fewer women regularly participate in sport or exercise than men - despite 75 per cent of women aged 14 to 40 saying they’d like to do more. (source: Sport England)

But why?

It’s not about women being less adventurous than men or about there being fewer women who embrace outdoor activities. I think it has more to do with the image that it’s only Amazonian, super-athletes who go on expeditions, supported by production teams and sponsorships. There’s a perception that in making the decision to ‘see the world’ you must put both career and family on the backburner. That you have to grit your teeth for every photograph and morph into a female, long-haired mascara-wearing version of Bear Grylls.

But I know that this isn’t the case at all. I know this because the description above definitely doesn’t describe me and it doesn’t describe most of the women who I’ve met in the outdoors.

The Challenge:

From early April through to the end of May 2015 I’ll travel to Tibet to complete a ‘double header’ expedition, climbing two remote 8,000m peaks which - Shishapangma and Cho Oyu - respectively the 14th and 6th highest mountains in the world.

However, this expedition is about much more than mountains and my goals are clear:

1. To raise the profile of women in the outdoors
2. To lobby for more coverage about women in the outdoors in mainstream media
3. To increase the number of women involved in outdoor activities in every level – from those who watch it, to those playing it, all the way to those in the boardroom 

I’ll be climbing to raise money and awareness for Wellbeing of Women, a health charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of women and babies around the world through research, training and education.

Some context...

The journey

I’ll be traveling overland from Kathmandu, Nepal, into Tibet through to the basecamp of my first objective - Shishapangma. Along the way, we’ll be stopping in the ancient Tibetan towns of Zhangmu, Nylam and Tingri, experiencing Tibetan culture, while stopping to walk each day in the surrounding hills to acclimate to the increasing altitude. This acclimatisation period offers a great chance to encounter the vast Tibetan plateau, the surrounding Himalayan Giants and experience the ancient Tibetan culture.

Shishapangma - the 14th highest mountain in the world

The first mountain-objective will be to climb Shishapangma, the 14^th highest mountain in the world at a height of 8,027 metres (26,335 ft). The initial 3-4 weeks will be spent acclimatising on Shishapangma, allowing my body enough time to get used to the thin air of higher altitudes while working with my Sherpa to set up the 3-high mountain camps - Camp One (6300m); Camp Two (6900m) and Camp Three (7,300m). Conditions dependent, my intention is to climb the East Peak which is the true summit of Shishapangma. The exact date of our summit push will depend on the weather window, marked by the decrease in summit winds which historically takes place around mid-May. 

Given that Shishapangma is only the first of two mountains in the challenge the timing of our ascent will be critical.

Cho Oyu - the 6th highest mountain in the world

After climbing Shishapangma we’ll will descend and immediately travel overland across the historical Tibetan plateau, stopping 20kms west of Mount Everest to make the most of the short weather window and begin our ascent of Cho Oyu, the 6^th highest mountain in the world at an altitude of 8201metres (26,906 ft). From our Base Camp of 5,650m we’ll move steadily up through the three mountain camps, making the most of the ‘pre-acclimatisation’ from the 3-4 weeks spent ascending Shishapangma. On our ascent of Cho Oyu we’ll pass through the high mountain camps of Camp 1 at 6,400 metres, Camp Two at 7,000 metres and Camp Three at 7,400 metres.  The summit climb from Camp Three will involve climbing through a short rock band just above the top camp before heading into an open couloir, which in turn leads to the 8201m summit plateau.

I certainly won’t be undertaking this tremendous challenge alone. A small team of Sherpas will accompany the entire expedition and will be integral to its success, providing a great portion of the ‘carrying power’. Having worked with teams of Sherpas on past expeditions including Everest, Lhotse and Makalu I’m very much looking forward to the insights, experience and friendship that the Sherpas bring to form the backbone of the team.

The Diva in Down

In the past 6 years I’ve spent over 13 months in total living above 5,000 metres thanks to a passion for experiencing new cultures and seeing the world from a different perspective.  

I have a full time job. I have family commitments. I have to train. 

And no, it isn’t always fun.

But yes, I do bring lipgloss.

I’m proud to be a sporty woman, a ‘Diva in Down’. And I’m proud to have earned my place in the mountains through sheer discipline, commitment, courage and creativity. 

And I’m going to keep climbing these mountains – both real and proverbial – and hope that I can inspire others to do the same.

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The Mile High Club...

Crazy, vivid, trippy dreams. Over the past week I’ve dreamt that I lost my wallet in my wardrobe and got married in my living room wearing a beige-coloured veil made out of a shower curtain and that a tornado ripped through central London with all the drama of The Wizard of Oz… 

Yep, I’m sleeping high.

But training low.

Vivid dreams have been an entertaining side-effect of my move back into an unconventional yet recurring annual feature in my bedroom – a Hypoxico ‘altitude tent’. Sadly, I don’t live in the Swiss Alps and I don’t have a hot ski-instructor named Frans or Hans to house me in a luxurious high mountain chalet, feed me cheese fondue and take me skiing <sigh>. Regrettably I am restricted to finding more creative ways to prepare my body for another 2-month adventure to the higher altitudes of the Nepal Himalaya. No mountain to climb and no plane ticket required – yet!

Made of special grade nylon with 4 clear vinyl windows, the ‘altitude tent’ houses my mattress and is erected over my bed. By sleeping in this 'simulated altitude environment' I am able to benefit from some of the positive adaptations to altitude while continuing to go to 'carry on my normal life' – continuing to work, train, and socialise at an oxygen-rich lower altitude.  

What’s involved?
A small machine the size of a beer-fridge (the 'hypoxic air generator') which sounds like a low-decibel lawnmower is connected to the ‘tent’ by an 8 foot long umbilical-cord-like clear plastic hose which pumps the low oxygen controlled air into the tent. The resulting rhythmic ‘whoosh, whoosh, whoosh’ sound makes it seem a bit like I’m sharing a bed with Darth Vadar (now that would be a trippy dream…)

After crawling inside the plastic bubble, rearranging numerous throw pillows and then zipping up my contained environment, it doesn’t take long before you start feeling like you’re sitting at Everest Base Camp, on the summit of Kilimanjaro or atop the Grand Teton, minus the biting wind, bitter cold, mountain vistas, exhaustion, vertigo, and… the problem of getting down…

Understanding the Physiology

Besides the crazy vivid dreams associated with ‘sleeping high’, one of the most rewarding side effects of my high altitude experiences over the years has been the opportunity to better understand my own physiology and the changes that are taking place within my body as I 'go to altitude' – whether that’s on a mountain or in an altitude tent. 

In the past I’ve ‘moved into’ the tent between 6-8 weeks before an expedition but because I was on Kilimanjaro at 5895m just over a week ago I’m trying to ‘keep’ the positive physiological benefits derived from going to this altitude until I head to Nepal.

Understanding the Physics

It’s a common misconception to think that there is less oxygen at altitude - but this is false as the mix of gases in the air is the same. Instead the higher up you go the air pressure gets lower. Consequently the partial pressure of oxygen is reduced. An altitude tent does not copy this change in pressure. Instead it pumps refined air with a reduced oxygen content into a confined space – e.g. the tent.

The body responds to the reduced oxygen content in the space by increasing the efficiency of oxygen intake from the lungs and oxygen transport in the blood through the production of more red blood cells. This takes place mainly during rest. This is known as ‘acclimatisation’ and gives the blood better oxygen-carrying capacity – e.g. it makes it more efficient. 

It takes the body more than two weeks to produce new red-blood cells and the positive effects of acclimatisation generally lasts between 10 days to two weeks.

I must admit, I’d prefer pre-acclimatising high in the Swiss Alps but I’ve learned that in life (in this crazy world of high altitude mountaineering) you have to learn to make compromises… Until then it’s just me and my Darth Vadar sleeping sidekick preparing for the adventure ahead.

If you're interested in altitude training or have questions about how altitude training can boost your performance at altitude or for long-distance events (eg. marathons, cycling, etc.) give The Altitude Centre a call - or better yet, pay them a visit at one of their fantastic gyms. 

enquiries@altitudecentre.com

www.altitudecentre.com

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Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro Climb - 'Sippy Sippy' & Summit Success..!

“What did you get up to over the weekend...?” 

I don’t always have the opportunity to provide such a satisfying response across the coffee machine at work on a Monday morning...

“Oh…well, I flew back from Tanzania after climbing Kilimanjaro with the most inspiring, fun and amazing colleagues ever… whilst raising an incredible amount of money for research into the health and wellbeing of women and babies…”

As I type the final members of our 14-strong team are making their way back to the UK. We left just over 8 days ago as colleagues, bound together by a common employer and a common ambition to reach the Roof of Africa. We return to sea-level bound by new friendships and memories that will last a lifetime – friendships built through shared laughs, fears, experiences, and a shared sense of team as we plodded our way to the 5,895m. 

As individuals we pushed ourselves to our personal limits, to the nth degree and beyond, putting one heavy altitude weighted foot in front of the other whilst being spurred on the journey by our collective sense of team and sights on the ultimate objective…

One thing that I have learned from this adventure is the importance of celebrating success in the progress toward a goal. The PwC Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro Climb the goals were to (1) reach and surpass our 25K target and (2) challenge ourselves our our journey to the summit of Kilimanjaro.

‘Fresh’ off the plane last Saturday evening, our PwC team sat down for our very first dinner together in our hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. Anticipation was running high. It was here that I realised just how much we’d achieved already – not only had we put together a strong, connected team with a common vision and common goals, we’d also actually made the preparations to say ‘Yes, let’s do this..!’  Shiny new kit had been purchased, flights had been taken via cities who’s names we could hardly pronounce, Tanzanian visas had been sorted, overflowing bags had arrived, hotels had been booked, new boots had been broken in… and nearly £30,000 had been raised for Wellbeing of Women through the hard work, creativity, passion and commitment of the team.

So much achieved, so much to celebrate - and we hadn’t even set foot on the mountain yet!

The trip continued to be jam-packed with successes. At the end of our first day on the trail we’d just reached camp and Jess exclaimed, ‘Woohooo!!’ and gave Aysegul the hugest high five. 

That night crammed into our mess-tent, bundled into our warm jackets and hugging hot cups of tea we raised a toast to the days achievements. Everyone was smiling. Everyone was laughing. The team had made tremendous progress already – Camp 1 reached – and it was only a matter of ‘onward and upward’ to reach the following day’s objective.

The days on the trail passed quickly, broken up through ‘sippy-sippy’ water drinking stops, eating stops, photo-stops, sunscreen application stops, and impromptu stops to accommodate frantic dancing to ‘Uptown Funk’ while gasping for breath… All the while conversations flowed, learning more about each other and the environments we were passing through.

I’ll never forget stopping on a walk with Martin and looking up at the sea of stars above - the Milky Way stretched out in all her glory before our very eyes. Hundreds of millions of stars reflecting endless possibilities, opportunities and questions. The moon shone so bright that we were able to walk without head torches. At one point our guide pulled us aside to show the Zebra rock – a giant natural rock formation etched into the side of a hill that looked like a zebra’s stripy belly. Crickets chirped and a gentle breeze whistled through the long African grasses. London seemed like a million miles away.

Onto the ‘main event’… When the team reached our ‘base camp’, 'Kibo Hut' at 4,750m (almost as high as the summit of Mont Blanc!) in the early afternoon before our ‘summit push’ the effects of altitude were starting to show. We walked across the saddle between Mawenzi peak and Kibo, with laborious breaths, our packs suddenly feeling heavier and every step harder than the last. This did little to dampen Team Spirit as we settled in for the afternoon and began mentally preparing for the challenge ahead. We would be leaving camp at 11.30pm for our ascent.

That night at around 11pm I awoke from a restless hypoxic slumber to hear Richard shout over the noise of the gusty-breeze hammering down our tents, ‘Don’t worry everyone! The winds’ bark is worse than its bite!’ No sooner had we all bundled into the mess tent with head-torches aglow nervously scoffing ginger-snap biscuits and hot tea then the wind started to die-down and our guide stuck his head around the corner. It was go-time.

The team performed absolutely brilliantly. Heads down, our Kilimanjaro conga-line snaked its way through the seemingly endless switchbacks and zig-zags over the volcanic scree. We stopped every hour for no more than 5 minutes to refuel and reassess our progress. It wasn’t until I looked up to see the familiar rocky final section that I realised that we’d reached the  first of the three summits – Gillmans Point (5685m) – in record time and in the dark..!

We then continued on with a further 3-hour round trip to the summit, Uhuru Peak - the highest point of all Africa. The route took us through a moonscape of volcanic rock and remnant glaciers with their impressive ice cliffs.

I can safely say that I’ve rarely seen such an incredible sunrise. The conditions were clear and there were panoramic views over the crater, to Mawenzi and Mount Meru looking very small below us. The view from the final summit was quite literally ‘breathtaking’. 

Despite our cold fingers, desperate gasps of rarefied air, throbbing heads, and rosy cheeks, we were laughing as the dawn broke over the summit crater in spectacular fashion and we celebrated our combined successes. A ‘journey’ that had started with an email saying ‘Yes! Sign me up!’ led to these happy (tired!) faces, new friendships and memories to last a lifetime. Additionally, we succeeded in our challenge to surpass our fundraising target, raising nearly £30,000 for Wellbeing of Women – money that will go toward improving the health of women and babies – and leave a legacy that will long outlast aching feet, sore muscles and throbbing heads..!

Climbing Kilimanjaro (or any mountain for that matter!) is no different from any other major challenges that we face in our lives. Whether we want to start a new career, have a healthier lifestyle or mend a broken relationship - we’re all climbing mountains of sorts. These experiences require us to be stronger than we think we are, endure more than we think we can, and become more than we dreamed possible.

Over £55,000 has been raised for the Wellbeing of Women thanks to the hard work, dedication, determination, creativity and fortitude of some of the most amazing people that I’ve ever shared a mountain with. Once again it highlights why I love climbing - not only for the breathtaking views, the physical challenge, and the personal sense of achievement, but also for the inspiration gained and insights shared by the people you meet along the way.

It's not too late to donate if you'd still like to show your support. All proceeds go to Wellbeing of Women and can be made via the link below:

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/wowclimb2015/187650

Thank you to the amazing team – Angus, Aysegul, Ele, Jaya, Jessica, Karolina, Martin, Matthew, Mette, Richard, Sophie, Victoria, Zeynep and our amazing team of porters and guides - for the wonderful trip memories; your humour, honesty, commitment, and enthusiasm through thick and thin (air) will never be forgotten and I can't wait to share another mountain with you again soon.

A massive Thank You to friends and family who supported the climb. We’re most grateful for the many ways that you have showed your support – donating to Wellbeing of Women, providing us with moral support, advice on kit, and getting involved in fundraising activities. We could not have achieved our goals without your tremendous and most generous support.

A tremendous Thank You to PwC and the firm’s Community Affairs Team who worked tirelessly over the past few months to make our climb such a success and who helped us to achieve our £25,000 fundraising target through support at Bake Sales, Pub Quizzes, and support with our internal campaign. Thank you for all of your encouraging words and your support. It's through the passion that you put into your work for Wellbeing of Women that we were driven to put one foot in front of the other.

Huge Thank Yous to Thalgo UK for the wonderful goodie-bag which kept us feeling fabulous throughout both the run-up to the expedition and on the expedition itself. We especially loved the SPF 50 sun-cream which kept us all protected and moisturised on the mountain. An added bonus was the leg mist which kept us refreshed...!

Thank you to The Jerky Group for nurturing a taste for beef jerky and biltong. Your very generous donation of beef jerky fed us and fuelled us up to the summit and provided a constant source of protein and snacking pleasure for all times of the day - breakfast, lunch and dinner along the trail and to the summit.

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The People You Meet Along The Way: The 2015 Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro Climb

I feel like it’s ‘Groundhog’ day, as I sit here in Arusha, Tanzania with an overpacked duffle bag, packing and unpacking and repacking, removing another round of ‘luxury items’ with each cycle… It feels like just yesterday that I was here with an intrepid team of friends, preparing for our 2014 'Music and Mountains' Kilimanjaro climb that would put all of us on the summit, raising 25,000 GBP / nearly $40,000 for Wellbeing of Women in the process. It had been a brilliant trip filled with memories and laughs that will last a lifetime. 

No less than 12 months later, I find myself back in Arusha, with another group of intrepid adventurers - men and women - preparing to embark on the 2nd annual Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro climb. A team which has spent the past few months raising money and awareness for the charity through pub quizzes, raffle tickets, tea parties, bake sales, pancake open houses, Bollywood nights, and a dedicated, committed amount of 'network tapping'. A team which started out as 'colleagues' but is now a team of 'friends'... and a team tremendously supported by floods of donations and messages offering encouragement, strength and words of wisdom for the journey ahead. 

On Wednesday, before our final fundraising event - a completely sold out pub quiz - we realised how close we were to hitting our 25,000 GBP target..! That evening, somewhere between learning what dessert was named after one of Napoleon's victories and the name of the Russian president in 1963 we sailed past our target... 

https://mydonate.bt.com/events/wowclimb2015/187650

AND the amazing news is that we're still sailing past that target...!! 

Please do consider making a donation if you haven't already. All monies go directly to the charity and will continue to fund research into improving the health of women and babies around the world through research into developing many women’s health services including cancer screening, IVF, pre-and post-natal care, ultrasound scans, stillbirth, foetal screening... . 

Sat here in Arusha, a short 4 days later, we are edging closer to reaching 30,000 GBP for Wellbeing of Women.  This is AMAZING and I am thrilled to be part of such an exceptional team. Tomorrow morning we'll be regrouping in the hotel lobby with our stuffed duffle bags and preparing for a 4-hour bus journey to the park entrance. We had dinner tonight and the general atmosphere was excitement, anticipation and a touch of 'Lets get this party started..."

One thing that we all have come to realise - particularly in our preparation for the climb and in working with the incredibly supportive team at Wellbeing of Women is that climbing Kilimanjaro, (or any mountain for that matter!) is no different from any other major challenges that we face in our lives. Whether that means making a career change, having a healthier lifestyle or mending a broken relationship - we're all climbing mountains of sorts. These experiences require us to be stronger than we think we are, endure more than we think we can, and become more than we dreamed possible.

I look forward to being part of the team and once again take Wellbeing of Women to the roof of Africa..!

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This Girl Can. Why beef jerky is my caviar...

“My gameface has lipstick on it.”

I’ve been tremendously inspired by the recent ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. It’s great to finally see a campaign celebrating and showcasing active women up and down the UK who are doing their thing, inspiring women of all sizes, abilities and experience to “wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement is a barrier that can be overcome.” Sport can and should be an enjoyable part of life.

You can watch the campaign teaser video here: http://youtu.be/i-moaoJVbHs

Delivered by Sport England and delivered in partnership with a wide range of organisations including the BMC, the campaign aims to address some thought provoking findings. Research by universities and other sports foundations found that 2 million fewer women are regularly participating in sport or exercise than men, despite 75 per cent of women aged 14 to 40 saying they’d like to do more. 

So what’s stopping them?

The research says that fear of judgement prevents many women taking part in sport and activity. In a recent interview with the BBC, Sport England chief executive Jennie Price shared, "One of the strongest themes was a fear of judgement. Worries about being judged for being the wrong size, not fit enough and not skilled enough came up time and again."

The campaign slogans use humour and a cheeky, edgy attitude to address that. The supporting images are a far cry from the perfectly tanned, perfectly tonned, cellulite free and quite frankly, unrealistic images that are used by the media in the womens fitness and outdoors market.

Where does this cultural "perception" of 'what is and what isn't' feminine come from?

I’ve always loved the outdoors and have always been fairly sporty.  So sporty in fact that growing up I simply accepted the label of ‘tomboy’ – a term that the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign tackles head-on. Why do you have to be compared to a boy just because you like sports? Why should it be unfeminine to run around, get muddy or play what was always predominately classed as “male sports”? Where does this cultural perception of 'what is and isn't' feminine come from?

6 years ago I took my first step into the world of mountaineering on an expedition to climb a 6,000m peak in the Nepal Himalaya. I found myself facing the tomboy label once again and in the minority on the mountain – not a real surprise as only one in ten people inquiring about exploratory climbing expeditions are women.

But why?

In my opinion it's not about women being less adventurous than men or about there being fewer women who embrace mountain sports or become mountain athletes. Rather, I believe it has more to do with the image being projected to us through the media that it’s only Amazonian, pain-loving super-athletes who can go on such expeditions, supported by production teams and sponsorships. There’s a perception that in making the decision to climb you must put both career and family on the backburner. That you have to grit your teeth for every photograph and you’d have to morph into a female, long-haired mascara-wearing version of Bear Grylls... 

But I know that this isn’t the case at all. I know this because the description above definitely doesn’t describe me! And it definitely doesn't describe most of the women I've met in the mountains.

In the past 6 years I’ve spent over 13 months in total on male-dominated expeditions, living above 5,000 metres thanks to a passion for high-altitude mountaineering.  I have a full time job. I have family commitments. I have to train. And no, it isn’t always fun. I definitely don’t look pretty after 2 months without a shower, let alone a week. On these expeditions, mascara and muff-wipes are considered taboo. Finally, no one looks sexy in a down suit…. 

But I’m going to let you in on a secret. 

My heels are good on ice.

Showers are overrated.

My linnens are goose down.

I run up escalators.

Down suits are my Spanx.

Beef jerky is my caviar.

I’m proud to be a sporty woman, a 'diva in down'. And I’m proud to have earned my place in the mountains through sheer discipline, commitment, courage and creativity. I’m equally thrilled to see that the BMC) is promoting the campaign. And I’m going to keep climbing these mountains – both real and proverbial –and hope that I can inspire others to do the same so that in the future more of my climbing team mates are women.

Llanberis Mountain Film Festival (LLAMFF)

A few weeks ago I was asked to speak at The Llanberis Mountain Film Festival (LLAMFF), running from 6th to 8th March 2015 across a number of venues local to Llanberis, in Wales.  I’m honoured to be sitting alongside a panel of inspiring women for the 'Game Changers' evening, sharing our personal stories which cover youngest ascents, epic climbs, global expeditions, ocean rows and international mountaineering. 

The film and lecture programme will run from 1800 – 2230 daily and you can book seats for any showing or lectures directly through the LLAMFF events listings: https://llamff.yapsody.com

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Please support the 2015 Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro Climb!

I was a little terror as a child. Between my brothers and I, we did our utmost to test my mothers patience. A farm in rural Canada proved to be the ultimate adventure playground and the setting for more than one instance where adventures went a bit too far… Personal highlights include getting stuck – waist deep – in the mud of a freshly ploughed field at the age of 6 (in my best Sunday clothes); filling our pool with a thick concoction of water, mud and grass clippings – playing in the soppy mixture all afternoon and then tracking it (literally) throughout the house; countless mud-ball fights (strategically laced with rocks and nails) with my brothers; and the piece de resistance, smashing all of the windows out of our barn along with the windows of my Dad’s antique car, an old Beaumont, in an effort to recreate the closing scenes of the Michael Jackson ‘Black or White’ video… 

Somehow my brothers and I managed to survive life on the farm… More remarkably, my Mom managed to maintain a sense of humour and a smile throughout (between the occasional moments of discipline). Despite the many occasions that we tested her patience, she continued to fill our lunch boxes each morning, ensure that we were properly dressed, make dinner each evening, drove me to ballet, piano, soccer, volleyball etc, ensure that we took our vitamins, brushed our teeth, and got to bed on time. She did this rain or shine even when she may have been battling the colds and flus we took home from school.

Coming full circle...

I’m now around the same age that my Mom was when she did all these things for my brothers, sister and I.  Life feels a bit like it’s come full circle. It’s only now that I have a full appreciation of how lucky I am to have such an amazing Mom . I also have an appreciation of just how much strength and effort it must have taken to raise all of us and hold the family together. Finally, and perhaps fundamentally, how lucky I am to have both directly and indirectly benefitted from the research funded by health charities such as Wellbeing of Women. 

Wellbeing of Women is a charity dedicated to improving the health of women, mothers and babies through research, training and education. Through the research funded by Wellbeing of Women, our whole family benefitted. Since it was founded 50 years ago, Wellbeing of Women has, through the generous support from its donors, invested in research projects and allocated funds towards the training of doctors and midwives.

The charity conducts research to address statistics such as these:

• 1 in 2 women in the UK will suffer from some kind of reproductive or gynecological health problem
• 17 babies a day die in the UK at or near birth (they are either stillborn or die shortly after birth)
• 145 women a week in the UK die of a gynecological cancer (ovarian cancer, womb cancer)
• 2 million women suffer the pain of endometriosis
• 1 in 5 pregnancies end in miscarriage

Wellbeing of Women encourages women – mothers, sisters, daughters, grandmothers, friends, colleagues - to take more interest in their own health and ensure that they have the appropriate access to education and care to do so. I’m tremendously inspired by the achievements and progress that has already been made to date. Some success stories can be found here: http://www.wellbeingofwomen.org.uk/research/success-stories/?menu=11c

Wellbeing of Women has also made me appreciate my mother, my sister and gorgeous nieces and nephews even more and the care that they have received since the day their imminent arrival into the family was announced. They truly are a miracle of life and I feel so tremendously blessed to be able to enjoy them and watch them grow up… even though, at times, they test my patience just as we did my mothers!

The Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro Climb...

Besides being the ultimate adventure playground, growing up on a farm also instilled in me a passion for the outdoors. It proved to be the setting that allowed me to push my creative and physical limits which ultimately led me to climb on some of the highest mountains in the world. From rural roots to Himalayan heights. 

Last year, supported by my employer, PwC, I decided to leverage my passion for adventure and share it with others to benefit the research supported by Wellbeing of Women. Together with an intrepid team of 8 other women we climbed to the 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, and raised over 25,000 GBP /  $35,000 for Wellbeing of Women. Our collective efforts helped to support by supporting two Wellbeing of Women funded researchers to investigating a new treatment for womb cancer and developing new treatments for premature birth.

Building on the success of last years climb, I decided with the support of PwC, to organise a second Kilimanjaro climb which is now scheduled to take place from 21 Feb – 1 March, 2015. This year we have an intrepid team of 14 climbers who will venture to Tanzania to undertake the challenge on behalf of Wellbeing of Women. 

Heading to altitude is never an easy or comfortable experience and the opportunity to lead an even bigger team this year whilst managing expectations ‘back at the ranch’ is going to be an equal challenge of leadership. It will put to the test the skills I’ve learned from past expeditions – discipline, commitment, courage and creativity. 

Having said that, I can’t think of a more inspiring team. Made up entirely of PwC colleagues from different backgrounds, business units, and ages it will be a tremendous adventure. I look forward to the opportunity to learn and work as a team to collectively surpass our fundraising target and reach the roof of Africa. Our efforts will ensure that research will continue into fertility, miscarriage, gynaecological cancers, pregnancy complications and menopause.

Doing so will ensure that we can continue to benefit from the love and care, that we have with the women and babies in our lives.

Please consider the women, mothers and babies in your life...

To ensure that this research can continue, I ask that you please consider making a donation to Wellbeing of Women. Your donation, however big or small, will ensure that we can continue to transform the lives of every woman and baby in the UK and many more worldwide. 

Please show your support by making a donation directly via our page below. All funds will be matched by PwC.

My fundraising page: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/heathergeluk

Our team page: https://mydonate.bt.com/teams/wowclimbteam2015

On behalf of the Wellbeing of Women Kilimanjaro Climb Team, a huge thank you for your support… and for considering of the women in your life!

We had t-shirts to ensure that Mom could keep our names straight

My sister Melanie, Mom and I

Despite the fact we were crazy as children I'd like to think we turned out ok!

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