STOP PRESS: Baby Mattravers has arrived safely! Another milestone reached, pretty much on schedule…
I met Tony Mattravers about two years ago when he was in the midst of losing weight in order to go wing walking. It didn’t take long to work out that he was a practical chap, an engineer by training with a keen eye for process and procedure, and always looking to find a more efficient way to deliver the required outcome.
I’m not sure when he first mentioned his dream to climb Kilimanjaro, but I know that as soon as he did, he began mapping out the equipment he would need, investigating the best company to use, and then once he’d made the commitment, he began to plan out his training and has worked really hard to get fit for it.
His weekly blogs have enabled us to understand more about the journey he’s experiencing, and the challenges he’s faced along the way. He has, inadvertently, managed to inspire me on a dull morning to get up and out and to exercise in my own way as thoughts of his sometimes extreme physical training would pop into my mind. I had no idea he would take the training quite so far, and do believe he will find he is very well prepared for the climb, both physically and mentally.
Part way through the preparation, he was reflecting on the fact that virtually everyone else who climbs Kili does so for charity. Having already paid his own way for the climb with a commercial travel company, he came into contact with Cruse Bereavement Care and as you’ll have read in http://journals.worldnomads.com/tony_mattravers/story/134132/Tanzania/So-why-did-I-choose-to-support-Cruse-Bereavement-Care-Somerset-Kilimanjaro-Blog he decided to use the opportunity to support their work in Somerset.
So this short piece is a plea from someone who’s had the pleasure of seeing him work so very hard towards his goal of climbing the world’s highest freestanding mountain and who is only a couple of weeks away from doing it. He admitted recently that he was having a bit of a wobble, something I must admit I’d been expecting. He is only human after all and not long after booking the Kili adventure, he and his wife found out that they had a baby on the way!
I offered to write this guest blog for him, to add another voice to his plea for support for Cruse Bereavement Care. So please do help Tony to achieve his other goal of raising £5,000 whilst he climbs Kilimanjaro. Please share this blog and/or his justgiving page, to help him to #achieveandgivesomethingback.
If you’ve already supported his decision to raise funds for an excellent local charity, thank you. There is more you could do though, so please help him reach his fundraising target by sharing his https://www.justgiving.com/Tony-Mattravers/ donation page as widely as possible.
And of course if you’re reading this blog for the first time, please look up his other posts (http://journals.worldnomads.com/tony_mattravers/trip/53360/Kilimanjaro-Sept-2015) which should inspire you to support him in whatever way you are able so that he can raise his target of £5,000 for Cruse Bereavement Care, Somerset.
This all began with a few baby steps towards his goal of climbing Kili over a year ago now, starting with the pair of socks he was given on Father’s Day. With their second child having arrived last weekend (congratulations to you both by the way!), it is now only a matter of days before Tony heads off to Africa, and I think Baby Steps will be a good way to keep going to make sure he reaches his goal.
I’m looking forward to seeing Tony share the picture of that t-shirt with all the logos on it from the top of Kilimanjaro. Aren’t you?!
Blog post submitted by Katharine Bourke @katharinebourke.
