£1200!!!!!

In less than 24 hours, the £1200 barrier has been smashed.

I'm so thankful for each and every one of you who's donated from the £1 text donations to the tens of pounds people have donated.  It will all make a difference to the people living around Tamworth and the surrounding areas who are suffering from chronic illnesses and cancer.

We have achieved more than I ever imagined when I first embarked on these challenges earlier in the year.  I've now got 8 left to complete, and we'll finish with a party to celebrate when the centre is reopened.  There has been a real team effort to get to where I am now, which captures what the Tamworth Wellbeing and Cancer Support Centre is all about.

My 40th year has been memorable in many ways already, and I've not even got to my birthday yet!
I'm hoping that this shows that there can be life and hope after cancer and that this will inspire others who are battling now.

Snowdon conquered

Just a couple of images from my Snowdon experience, lots more can be found on the Centre's Facebook page.  The first is an extremely tired and emotionally drained me at the summit, some 3 hours after starting out in the pouring rain.  The second a much more relaxed me on the way down via an alternative route!

I have to say this has to have been one of the most physically and emotionally demanding charity ventures I've ever undertaken.  

We set off in high spirits just after 8.30am on a rather dismal morning, the heavy rain turning to drizzle as we began our accent up Mount Snowdon following the supposedly easy Miners Track.  The first hour or so was pretty sedate if rather wet following the miners track up through a number of lakes.  This changed when suddenly the path seems to scale through the rocks via numerous trickling waterfalls.  We could see others climbing ahead so followed.  The path was not well defined and I began having doubts as we scrambled up wet rocks.  Just a short way up and I began to panic.  The route wasn't clear, the weather was poor and I'd stumbled a couple of times and was beginning to get scared.  It was the thought of letting the charity down that drove me on, and the fact that I wasn't sure how I'd get back down again even if I wanted to!  As we progressed higher, I got more scared, especially when at some points the path seemed to disappear altogether.  I had visions of being lost or falling down the side of a mountain with nobody knowing where we were.

We waited for another group to catch us up.  We followed them up an increasingly difficult section (a easy route, you've got to be kidding)  At one point I'm hoisting myself up rocks using 2 metal pegs fixed into the ground.  This made the rock wall seem like a piece of cake!  Finally the last section seemed to follow a defined path again as we walked towards the summit in almost zero visibility.  By the time we got to the top, we could see nothing and it was freezing and I was exhausted.  I seriously considered getting the train back down, as I had no idea how I'd manage the return route.  3 hours after we had started we'd conquered Snowdon, but it wasn't joy that I felt, just exhaustion and an adrenaline crash.

After almost an hour's rest and a chat to the guides at the top I decided that we'd climb down but via a different route, the Llanberis path, a much longer but easiest route down.  We started our journey back, and I immediately started to feel better.  We were walking down a proper path, although rocky and a little steep in places, I was back in my comfort zone.  As we descended the fog and clouds started to lift, and we could begin to take in the scenery around us.  For the first time in many hours I actually begin to enjoy myself again.  The sun was starting to come out and and we began to warm up.  The camera came back out and I felt like I was actually achieving something again. 

It still took the best part of 3 hours to get to the end of the path, but they were enjoyable.  Towards the end exhaustion started to kick in again, and we dragged ourselves back into the village to try and find a bus to get back to where we had started almost 7 hours earlier!  

I'd beaten cancer and now a mountain too!

Two days later and I'm still hobbling around feeling the after effects of our adventure!

I was hoping that this challenge would generate some extra much needed donations to the centre, as yet I've not raised even a penny more.

Please keep spreading the word, and maybe I might just make my final target of £1200 before I turn 40.

Thank you for being part of my special journey.

https://www.justgiving.com/Louisevernon4040/

Water Water

On a day where I was supposed to be celebrating another challenge completed I was left with mixed emotions.  Whilst I was standing on a field getting sponges and buckets of water thrown over me, unbeknown to me volunteers were frantically mopping up a flood that had swept through the centre after overnight storms.  The spirit of the Centre however will not be quelled by water, neither will my enthusiasm which has propelled me through these challenges.  The flood drives us on to make our centre better than it was before, but also shows the need even more urgently for funding.

I got just a little wet, and raised another few quid in the process.  I have to say I rather enjoyed my soaking!

Today also saw me chalking off the last few minutes of my 40 hours of volunteering, with the last bit of tidying and clearing away from the school summer fayre.  That makes my tally up to 31 challenges completed, with the next 2 coming up before the end of the month.

I am hoping to get my son's scout pack involved in a sponsored swim in the weeks leading up to my birthday, with a party / event at the centre to be the finale of my fundraising.

I started my blog tonight with water and have ended on water.  With this I leave you with an inspirational quote for the day!

"Be a rainbow in someone's cloud"

Busy Times

I have 5 minutes to catch my breath to update you all before my next challenge hopefully is completed in about 12 hours time.

This time last week I was terrified at the thought of a climbing wall, this week it's a school summer fayre that I've organised going wrong that I dread!

The rock wall climb was an amazing experience.  I did not fear the height itself, just the physical limitations of my own body.  I felt safe in the harness, just found it immensely difficult to pull or push myself up that wall, but I did it on the third attempt, even if it was the easiest wall in the building.  The satisfaction of climbing the 20ft wall and giving a thumbs up at the top was huge!

Me finally climbing to the top of the wall after the 3rd attempt!

Pleased with myself!

Me and Samuel overcame our fears and did it!

Julia was a natural on the wall.  We were diagnosed 6 months apart and have known each other since our daughters went to nursery and school together.

The whole team who took part in the challenge.  All of us connected by cancer or other serious illness in some way or another, a real inspirational bunch of people I climbed with.

Tomorrow is the turn of the school summer fayre, my last as a parent, and a day I didn't think I'd see when I got my diagnosis.  I never thought back in 2010 that I'd see both of my kids finish primary school, so I'm going into the final few weeks with a real roller coaster of emotions.  Cancer might be 4 years behind me, but there are certain triggers and I'm an emotional wreck, school masses being one of them.
On the lighter side of things with the hours I've put in over the last week or so organising the fayre my 40 hours of volunteering is within reach of being hit if not this weekend then very soon.  I'm also hoping for lots of wet sponges and some more money in the tin too.  I'm so close to £1200, nearly 3 times my original target, and the amount of people who've liked my photos or have asked about my challenges has been amazing.  I think I might have made just a small difference in raising money and awareness in the process.
I will be sad when my challenges have come to an end.  I've experienced so many new things, and had so much fun on the way.  I suppose I'll just have to sit back and enjoy my birthday in November, and look back with pride at what has been achieved.