Moving the fundraising goalposts

I suppose I should be used to missing the target, having been a Tottenham supporter for 40+ years. But it's still painful to accept the reality that we're running out of time to hit the optimistic target of raising £25,000 for World Vision, considering we fly out to face Kilimanjaro on 23rd February, 2007.

I was getting very excited a couple of weeks ago when we were nominated for The Motley Fool's Foolanthropy charity drive this year. This fantastic initiative has raised $2.5m over 10 years and the target for the successful 5 charities this year is an amazing $280,000. If World Vision had been one of the 5 I think we could have got to the £25,000. Sadly, it wasn't to be.

We're at £3,400. Not bad, especially as this WILL make a huge difference to the Kisiriri community in Tanzania, where the average annual income is $140. And we're planning a 10 mile sponsored stroll from Godalming on 29th December, to walk off some of the festive excesses. The idea is that at least 10 people each get 10 people to sponsor them £10 - hey presto: £1,000 for World Vision. More to come on the walk in a separate article later.

And with the trek now a frighteningly close reality, we can go back with the begging bowl to everyone we spoke to a year ago when the Kili50 project was first a nagging sore in my ageing addled mind.

We've climbed Holloway Hill 50 times, had a car boot sale in 90 degree heat, been overwhelmed by Simon & Christine Hurst's generosity on their 25th wedding anniversary, cleaned out Jimbo & Marianne Illsley's garage (toys still to find a way to the market)....at the same time as working, training and living.

But no excuses. It's looking like a not-so-glorious failure, for which I feel very guilty. We spoke with World Vision at the start of this idea and they gave us a load of support because £25,000 would allow them to really make a massive difference to their Kisiriri Area Development Programme.

So with a heavy heart and broad shoulders to carry the goalposts I'm officially slashing the fundraising target to £10,000. Still a long way to go, but hopefully still challenging and achievable, as my American masters would say. Come on everyone, please put your brains in gear and your hands in your pockets - ideas and contributions very welcome (via the sponsor us now link here and on the right hand side).

Preparation Progress Report

In preparation for the imminent Kili trip, I decided to do some Christmas shopping in London on Saturday. (Un)fortunately, all the presents were for myself, and I just didn't have enough time to buy the other very thoughtful presents for my family and friends. I may need to organise another trip up to London...

Anyway, I am now considerably poorer, but have some excellent stuff – merino wool base layer, a little blue micro-fleece, very warm gloves and a big waterproof, windproof and breathable jacket. I also saw a sleeping bag which I decided not to get at the time, but having thought about it some more, I think I'll get that too.

I can thoroughly recommend the Mountain Warehouse just south of Covent Garden, which is having a clearance sale, so there is some really good stuff for very low prices.

I still need to sort out warm trousers, a headtorch and some sort of sunglasses that I can wear over my normal glasses (don't think I could fiddle with contacts in the middle of a freezing cold night), but otherwise, I'm nearly there. (I'm also probably going to give these... a miss.)

Jon and I have also been pretty good at focusing on the fitness side of things the past few months, so, despite the short timescale, I'm feeling pretty optimistic. We've even raised the crazy idea of getting up at 2am one night and going out for a long run, just to see how bloody awful it's going to be! Funnily enough, that keeps being put off till next time...