Kilimanjaro - it's become a huge part of my life!

I first signed up to climb Kilimanjaro at my university fresher's fair in 2019. I've always loved adventure and the second I saw the poster I knew I was going! I went into the information evening without really knowing anything about Dig Deep or their mission, but after listening to how passionately staff spoke about their work and learning more about the charity's ethos I knew it was a cause I wanted to support.

Fundraising seemed like an incredibly daunting task, but once you get started everything suddenly becomes much more manageable. As a Team Leader, I helped my team organize several events such as Christmas fairs, street collections and bake sales - until Covid struck and our fundraising efforts went into lockdown! Fundraising online presented a whole new set of challenges, but my team took it all in their stride and did a fantastic job. It was incredibly rewarding to be able to support them all the way through from the recruitment stages to reaching their fundraising targets, and to be able to finally take on Kilimanjaro with them in 2022.

Climbing Kilimanjaro was easily one of the best experiences of my life. I joined the Dig Deep team in country a few weeks before my climb to help film and create content for social media, and was able to become fully immersed in the excitement of the climbing season and the beauty of Tanzania. The climb itself almost felt like a dream - it had been three years since I had seen all those incredible photos on the information evening PowerPoint and now I was finally behind the camera! I cannot express how unbelievable the climb crew are on the mountain, they sang and danced us the entire way up and went above and beyond to make sure everybody was cared for. The whole experience was incredible and I owe it all to them!

Taking on the role of Fundraising and Communications Assistant at Dig Deep was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made. Kilimanjaro has become a huge part of my life, and I cannot wait to support others through their fundraising journeys and help them share the adventure!

If you fancy taking on a challenge just like Kate then pop us an email to find out more at support@digdeep.org.uk or head to our website to find your next adventure.