By Leah Conway – KLTV Contributor
12 students from the University of Huddersfield are taking on the challenge to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in 2021. The climb is enabled by the charity Choose a Challenge
Who is Choose a Challenge?
Choose a Challenge is an organisation passionate for adventure, charity and providing incredible experiences to other young people. They have raised over £20 million for charity and have sent over 12,000 young people on adventures around the world.
Other challenges in addition to the Mt. Kilimanjaro Trek include Everest, Machu Pichu, the Colombian Lost City Trek, and closer to home the Three Peaks Challenge and a Hadrian’s Wall Team challenge.
For a Good Cause:
The group of Huddersfield students is split into two groups; one group of seven is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in August 2021 for the charity MIND. MIND is a charity that provides advice, supports and empowers anyone experiencing a mental health problem.
Their teammates will follow their footsteps and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro two months later for The National Autistic Society – the UK’s leading charity for supporting people on the autism spectrum and their families.
To prepare for the challenge the team are training in the gym and following recommendations from personal trainers.
Joshua Johnson, a team member climbing for MIND, commented, “I am very excited for the challenge! It’s going to be the experience of a lifetime and I can wait! Just not looking forward to the 15-17 hour walk on summit night!”
The participants also have a personal fundraising goal to achieve before they go on their challenge. Goals ranging from around £1700 all the way to £3050.
Each personal goal contributes to the team’s overall fundraising goal. So far, the first team to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro has raised an incredible £4,269 – 23% of their ultimate goal.
The team has been running a variety of fundraising events from collections and bake sales to music events and quiz nights. Anyone can get involved in helping to raise money, whether it be by donating, sharing or providing products for the teams to raffle.
You can support the Huddersfield students challenge by donating to their JustGiving page and you can find out more about Choose a Challenge here.