100 days to go, and next stop... the Peak District

Our countdown clock has hit another milestone - 100 days to go until the first group depart from Heathrow (9th January). And having received our flight details recently, anticipation is definitely building.

The biggest event of our preparation is also looming large.


Picturesque Peak District.
Looking towards Kinder Scout

Next weekend there will be around 50 of our trekkers meeting in the Peak District for our eagerly awaited training weekend. We will be exploring the picturesque Edale valley, including a long training walk on Saturday and an optional walk on Sunday. This will be a great opportunity to test kit and fitness, and to meet many fellow trekkers for the first time.

Neil Jones

Tanzania - some facts and figures

Apologies for a few weeks of inactivity on the blog. Fundraising, training, and preparations for the imminent training weekend in the Peak District have been the order of the day recently.

  

However, during that time thoughts have been turning to the country we will be exploring in less than four months. Tanzania.

  

A few facts and figures about this east African country...

• Full name: United Republic of Tanzania
  
• Population: 47.6 million (UN, 2012). UK population: 62.8 million (UN 2012)
• Capital: Dodoma (official), Dar es Salaam (commercial)
• Largest city: Dar es Salaam
• Area: 945,087 sq km (364,900 sq miles). UK area 242,514 sq km (93,638 sq miles). So Tanzania is almost four times larger than the UK
• Major languages: English, Swahili
• Major religions: Christianity, Islam
• Life expectancy: 58 years (men), 60 years (women) (UN). UK life expectancy: 78 years (men), 82 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 Tanzanian shilling = 100 cents
• Main exports: Gold, sisal, cloves, coffee, cotton, cashew nuts, minerals, tobacco
  
• GNI per capita: US $540 (World Bank, 2011). UK GNI per capita: US $37,780 (World Bank, 2011)  
• Internet users: by June 2012, 5.6 million Tanzanians were online (Internetworldstats.com). That’s around 12% of the population. Conversely, there were 52.7 million internet users in the UK by December 2011 - nearly 85% of the population (Internetworldstats). 

• Tanzania has been spared the internal strife that has blighted many African states. Though it remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with many of its people living below the World Bank poverty line, it has had some success in wooing donors and investors.
• Tanzania assumed its present form in 1964 after a merger between the mainland Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar, which had become independent the previous year.



View from the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Above the clouds.

• Tourism is an important revenue earner; Tanzania's attractions include Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, and wildlife-rich national parks such as the Serengeti.

Source: BBC News country profiles (September 2013)

Neil Jones

£125,000 and climbing

We have moved on to the next milestone - £125,000 raised for Macmillan from our 70 trekkers!

Some of the Nottingham group at '4000m'
at Nottingham Trent University.
Source: Nottingham Post

As well as fundraising, people have been training hard over the summer months. Including the majority of the Nottingham team who went along to the Nottingham Trent University altitude chamber in July. 30 of us spent an hour exercising in conditions simulating 4,000 metres (around 13,000ft). The air felt strange with the greatly reduced oxygen, but everyone passed with flying colours.

There is a lot more to do between now and our expedition in January, but we are making great progress every week, especially with our fundraising.

150 days to go. Onwards and upwards...


Neil Jones

£100,000 for Macmillan!!! And six months to go

Several colleagues have remarked that we have hit another milestone.

On this day in six months time (18th January 2014), our first team will be preparing to return from Tanzania at the end of their expedition, and the Nottingham group will be arriving at the foot of Kilimanjaro for the start of the climb.

But that is not the biggest milestone this week. More importantly, the Macmillan team have confirmed that we have collectively exceeded the £100,000 fundraising mark.

Wow! £100K already. And lots more fundraising to come.

The next six months will bring yet more highlights. Keep up the great work everyone.

Neil Jones

Whetting our appetite

Two colleagues (Reena and Justine) have just returned from their own Kilimanjaro adventure. Here is a summary of their trip, including several key insights and tips...

“WOW!!! It is great to see how much you have already fundraised, and to read about the activities you have already been involved in! From climbing Snowdon, training sessions, and altitude chambers; your experience seems to have started off great and it is only going to get better!

We have just returned from Kilimanjaro and we had a truly amazing, unforgettable, and fun experience. We wanted to wish you all the best with your training and even more luck for your actual climbs!

Starting the climb

We don’t want to give the whole game away but we have a few things we would like to share with you.

Undoubtedly, Kili was both a challenge and a delight. The first time you spot the summit (for us, it was from around 10,000ft), it really brings home how far you have come to get there. It will be your constant goal. It will be all you will talk about. Whether you reach the top or not is irrelevant. Enjoy each day as it comes and be mindful of what you are achieving, as it is something really special.

A few bits you don’t read in the guidebooks:

• “Surely it’s time for a water break?” Drinking water seems so simple – but when it feels like we were trying to neck down more than an average Friday night things must be getting serious.

• “This food is manna from heaven” Now whether it is because you have been walking for six hours surviving on a Nile’s worth of water and protein bars, or whether the chefs seem to be undiscovered Michelle Roux’s – one thing was unanimous amongst our group – the food you get on Kili is fantastic!

• “I haven’t gone in 24 hours” We don’t want to explain what this refers to right now, as this is one experience which will cause you to laugh and cry. Sharing everything with the group, or in this case, perhaps a small group is part and parcel of experiences like this, and we would hate to spoil the surprise! 

Above the clouds

We are both around for all your questions, large or small. Please don’t hesitate to ask. You can contact us via email: reena.mehta@boots.co.uk or justine.farrar@boots.co.uk and we will be only too happy to help. We will try to attend some of your fitness and training events too so you can catch us there!

Keep training, and we’ll see you soon". 

Reena Mehta & Justine Farrar

200 days and £92,000!

It's July 2013, the weather is warming up nicely, and sub-zero temperatures on Kilimanjaro seem a long way off.  However, we have recently passed the 200 day mark and the next few months are likely to fly by as our January departure dates loom large.

Our latest fundraising figures show that across both groups, we have already raised £92,000 for Macmillan. Wow!

Our team of Boots UK store colleagues has raised £44K, and the Nottingham group has reached £48K.

Well done everyone. Keep up the fantastic fundraising work.

Neil Jones

Me and my pink exercise bike...

A few tips for fundraising and training from June, one of our Nottingham team...

“I am sure most fellow Kilimanjaro climbers will agree that although tackling a 19,000ft mountain will no doubt be tough, our fundraising target is also a big challenge! After setting up a Just Giving webpage, it quickly became apparent that this alone would not be enough to help me reach my target. So, I started looking on the Be.Macmillan website for fundraising ideas, and came across lots of make-your-own fundraising materials which were fantastic and gave me lots of inspiration.

One of the pre-made posters was designed for a pottery event, with the slogan “We’re Potty About Raising Money”. Inspired by this, I organised a fundraiser at Creations Pottery Cafe in Loughborough at the end of May (to coincide with half-term), where people came along for pottery painting, face-painting and a toy tombola. The owner kindly donated a proportion of sales to Macmillan. There was a lot of mess but a lot of fun, and kids and adults alike had a great time “going potty for Macmillan”. A few customers shared their stories about the great work that Macmillan nurses have done for them, which made me even more proud to be part of a great cause.

That same weekend I roped in some friends to don green wigs and help out with a cycling challenge in our Loughborough Boots store, as well as helping me run the raffle/tombola stand I set up. With help from the store, I took along a (pink!) exercise bike which I placed at the entrance with a couple of collection buckets.


June and friends during their Loughborough fundraising

We each did 10 kilometre stints, and altogether we covered 110km. All whilst enjoying the lovely aromas coming from a nearby fish market van! And we also managed to get into the local newspaper.


Coverage in the Shepshed Echo newspaper

Overall so far I have raised around £2,000.

It still feels like I have a long way to go so I have a couple more cycling events planned with bigger Boots stores over the summer as I really think it’s a great way to train and raise money at the same time. From experience, I think that the sillier, sweatier and more tired you look, the more willing people are to donate!

I hope everyone’s training and fundraising is going well and I look forward to reading about it on this blog”.