A trio of colleagues at Northumbrian Water are set to tackle Africa’s highest mountain in an expedition to raise money for a Teesside charity.
Sewerage maintenance operatives Chris Kamara, Shaun Moody and Darren Hebron will climb Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Daisy Chain charity, inspired by Chris’ 13-year-old son, Jonathan, who has autism.
Stockton-based Daisy Chain provides a range of services to support people with autism and their families in the Tees Valley.
The seven day trek begins this weekend and will see five days of climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, followed by two days of descent. Kilimanjaro is a volcano, which peaks at 5,895m high.
Chris, from Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, Shaun, from Redcar, and Darren, from Stockton, have been planning the trip for the past year, having previously cycled coast to coast together for a cancer charity. They will aim to reach Kilimanjaro’s Uguru summit, which is at a height of 5,985m.
Chris said: “We’ve never tackled anything like this before, so it’s going to be a massive challenge. Daisy Chain is a fantastic charity and does brilliant things for families like mine, because they understand and can support people when autism is a part of their life and that of their family.
“The support is invaluable, so hopefully our efforts will help Daisy Chain to give support to other families in the future.”
Judith Haysmore, Chief Executive at Daisy Chain says: “We wish Chris, Shaun and Darren the best of luck on their climb. I have climbed Kilimanjaro a couple of times so know how much of a challenge it is. We are so grateful for their support and the money raised will make such a difference to the lives of the families we support affected by autism.”
Anybody who wants to sponsor Chris, Shaun and Darren can do so on their Go Fund Me page at https://www.gofundme.com/