Emily climbs Mount Kilimanjaro for The Prince's Trust
On 11th September 2011 Emily Hornby began
the trip of a lifetime, raising funds to support young people in
the UK and testing herself physically and mentally in this
unfamiliar environment.
Emily chose to raise money for the Prince's
Trust because as she “had been fortunate” in her life she
wanted to help young people who had been granted fewer
opportunities. After visiting The Prince's Trust and hearing
stories from young people Emily was inspired to do something
to help, so the journey to Kilimanjaro began.
For three months prior to the trip, Emily did
hill training and long-distance walking to build up her
stamina. She completed a 4 mile run 2-3 times every week and
signed up for a 10km run for further inspiration.
A lot of the preparation time was also
used to raise money. To date Emily has raised an incredible
£2,573 which is an amazing achievement! Emily reached this total by
selling items on Ebay, organising a quiz/open-mic night and a
fundraising barbeque. These were great events which not
only raised a lot of money, but they brought friends and
family together to show their support for Emily and her
challenge.
Emily describes the trek up Kilimanjaro as
"one of the best experiences of my life" but she also adds that
"there were times when it was really hard and I didn't know whether
I would pull through". Suffering from altitude sickness made
the climb even harder, but the support from the other challengers
and the guides, pulled Emily through and gave her the extra
encouragement needed to reach the top.
This was a really tough challenge but by
taking it on and seeing it through, Emily has raised a significant
amount of money for The Prince's Trust and helped inspire young
people to push their own limits to see what they can
achieve.
If you have been inspired by this story to take on a Challenge
for yourself, please visit www.princes-trust.org.uk/challenge