Friday Night Fundraising

It's been a while since my last post, mainly because I have been away but also because I have been snowed under with the final arrangements for my fundraising Fight Klub class.  You may recall that Duane & Darren my Flight Klub instructors agreed to run a charity class for me - this was a great boost to my fundraising efforts.

They kindly agreed to run the two hour class for free, one hour of Fight Klub followed by a Drum and Bass Workout.  I was also extremely lucky to be offered a FREE venue by Reading Cricket Club meaning that every penny from the event went straight to African Parks and the evening raised £380 in total.  Soooo, huge thanks to both Double D and the Reading Cricket Club for their support!

We got to the Cricket Club nice and early to set up, not only did I want to sell some more of my goodies but there was furniture to move, bags to set up, lighting and sound to set up and of course a few warm up photos to get us in the mood!

African goodies supported by some Fight Klub posters (two of my favourite things)

The calm before the storm....ready for the lighting to go up

Poser

Showing my sister how its done......

...she didn't thank me....

...so I started on Michael instead.

The night was a great success with many new faces coming along to try it out for the first time.  It's fair to say Duane and Darren didn't disappoint and it was lovely to see faces from Reading, Winnersh and Didcot Fight Klub crews come together for such a good cause.

Being put through our paces on the bags

Two on the right, two on the left...

Me and my sister 'enjoying' some Drum and Bass

Don't think that now this is over I am going to have a rest from the fundraising.  I've already been in touch with a few large retailers about some donations of last years old stock of Christmas wrapping paper, ribbons etc. as I'm planning to offer a christmas gift wrapping service.  In less than an hour I had responses from John Lewis, Debenhams and Sainsbury so here's hoping I get lots of paper and can wrap lots of gifts in return for money.

Bite Size Update

Nothing major to report, just thought I'd give you a few little updates on whats been going on in preparation for the climb.

Fundraising
Plans are in full swing for the Fight Klub fundraising event on 28th July.  Fight Klub has become a stable part of my fitness training.  I went to classes long before I agreed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro so it was always going to stay part of my routine.

Duane & Darren have kindly given up their time on a Friday night to run a two hour class to help me reach my target .  On top of that the venue have not charged me any room hire fee so all money raised at the event will go directly to African Parks.  With donations of £10 per person and around 40 people attending I'm hoping to get £400 from the event.

Things did get a little heated at Fight Klub the other week when it was announced that only a few spaces were left - Darren had to intervene to keep the peace!

The great outdoors
Just in case you thought it was just climbing a mountain that was the new experience for me, I've had to get practicing everything - including sleeping in the great outdoors!  I've never slept in a tent before - and doing it for the first time on the mountain probably isn't the best thing!

In an effort to prepare for everything, we invested in a little pop-up tent for the garden and spent the night sleeping under the stars....well actually it wasn't like that.  We invested in a little pop-up tent and spent the night fending off one of the cats who kept attacking the tent and avoiding the slug that somehow got inside the lining.

Merry the cat wasn't too sure about the new garden furniture

Training
It's a bit quiet at the moment as the training is just steadily going on, week by week.  I'm having to make a few changes as a couple of my classes are no longer running.  I'm looking in to swimming pools in the area just to change things up a bit and get a good mix of exercise in.

My usual routine has been great and I am really feeling the difference with my fitness level and strength but I need to also include some endurance training for those back to back days of solid walking....uphill.

I have been getting proper sweaty so can literally see the pounds dropping away - here's the evidence, just for you lovely lot

I've also been keeping up with my daily planks - I'm doing them for 1 minute 40 seconds a day now. It's hard and I wobble beyond belief but the benefits of planking far out weight the wobble!  My personal trainer has inspired me with the planking (as you will know from my previous blog post "Planking for parks").

Here's me planking away in Wales at the weekend.

Zakouma National Park - Chad

Zakouma totals 3,054 KM2 and has been an African Parks project since 2010.  In spite of regional conflict, Zakouma remains one of the few intact Sudano-Sahelian ecosystems in Africa and it is a critical representative habitat for Central and West African animal species, making it one of the most important protected areas on the continent.  Since African Parks assumed management of the park elephant poaching has come almost to a halt and the population has stabilised and is growing with at least 80 calves under the age of three counted in 2016.  Due to improved management and an effective ranger team, Zakouma is emerging as a coveted tourist destination, and is bringing much needed stability to the area.

The stats....

• 30 elephant calves born in 2015;
• 80 elephant calves born in 2016;
• 650 children attended four 'elephant schools' which serve the community;
• Zakouma is home to 50% of Africa's Kordofan giraffe.

The Highlights

• Rapid Response Units have almost completely halted poaching in the park;
• After eight years of poaching, elephant numbers are on the rise with the population surpassing 500 in 2016;
• Species including giraffe, roan antelope, Lelwel's hartebeest and buffalo have all recovered, with buffalo now numbering in excess of 10,000 from an original 200 in 1986;
• Four elephant schools provide education to more than 650 local children;
• Zakouma's Tinga Lodge and Camp Nomade have increased in tourism revenue by 27% since 2014.

What next for Zakoura?

• Formulate a land use plan to create an elephant corridor beyond the park, which forms part of a 25,00 KM2 greater ecosystem;
• Improve the educational curriculum and environment following the opening of additional Elephant Schools, which address the dispersed local population;
• Continue efforts to reintroduce black rhinos into the park;
• Further boost the number of Chadian visitors to the park, both as tourists and through the outreach programme.

All of this information has been taken from the African Parks website.  If you want to find out even more about Zakouma National Park then why not grab a cuppa and click on the link below - happy browsing!

Zakouma National Park 

PS - here is a link to my just giving page - click here to sponsor me 😘

Happy Friday

Happy Friday!

To celebrate the imminent arrival of the weekend here is a heart warming short video of a small child chasing birds around a park and falling flat on their face.

Oh, and did I mention its an elephant?!

Taking a tumble

OK - and here's another little treat.  This is a short film from Elephant Nature Park, the sanctuary I have volunteered at in Thailand.  They recently rescued an orphaned baby elephant called Dok Geaw. His mum died when he was just four months old.  She had been injured giving birth but was still forced to work in the logging industry immediately afterwards.  Elephant Nature Park is a sanctuary for former-captive working elephants.

This is the moment the ENP herd heard his cries and came to meet him for the first time and welcome him to his new home.

Best watched with the sound up full to hear those trumpets and rumbles in all their glory.

Dok Geaw

Have a lovely weekend!

Warning - mildly political post!

Well what a week it's been for British politics.  From Brexit to social care, education to nuclear weapons - it seems everything has been discussed and debated in great length - everything except elephants.

If you haven't been keeping up with the rollercoaster that has been British politics lately you may not be aware that elephants have been a victim of this election.

The Conservative government pledged in its 2010 and 2015 manifesto's to bring about the complete closure of the UK's domestic ivory market.  To date they have failed to honour this pledge, despite the crisis facing Africa's elephants being debated in parliament twice within two months, the later  just being in February 2017.

Since the Conservative government's first pledge in 2010 - 200,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory.  Despite this figure, and the ongoing pressure on the government to honour their pledge and ban the UK Ivory trade - the Conservatives actually removed it altogether from their 2017 manifesto.

The UK is the largest exporter of ivory in the EU, so as well as allowing the ivory trade to thrive in the UK, we play a major role in feeding demand for ivory.  This makes the UK a complicit player in the ongoing poaching that is driving elephants to extinction in the wild.

Despite its commitment to support African countries in their efforts to end poaching, and with 85% of the British population wanting a total ban, the government is instead prioritising the interests of a tiny number of British antique dealers.  These dealers are the obstacle to a full ban and are lobbying for the sale of antique (defined as pre-1947) ivory to continue.

It's hard to believe that our government has made a conscious decision to remove this pledge from their manifesto and to allow the brutal killing to continue.  Although it does start to become clearer once you know that wealthy antiques dealer, Lady (Victoria) Borwick, the Tory candidate for Kensington and the president of the British Antique Dealer's Association, is a friend of Theresa May's.

There was a very small glimmer of hope when Lady Borwick lost her seat in the recent election, meaning she won't be in parliament to influence any future vote on the UK ivory trade (if that ever happens!) although I'm sure she will stay close to Theresa May and do her best to ensure her earnings and a few pointless ornaments are perceived as more important than the future of this beautiful species.

If you love elephants and want to see the UK following the US and China in introducing a complete ban on the UK Ivory trade please please please keep campaigning and keep the pressure on your local MP - especially if they are Conservative - to ensure this important issue is not forgotten.  It needs to be re-added to the agenda - NOW!

One elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its ivory, with more being shot for fun by big game hunters.  In the time it has taken you to read this post another elephant has been killed, another baby has been orphaned and another payment been made to the very people who have the ability to put a stop to this madness.

African Parks brings new park under management

Great news! African Parks and the Presidency of the Republic of Benin have signed a long-term agreement to manage Pendjari National Park in Benin. The park is part of the W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) complex which spans Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is the largest remaining intact natural ecosystem in the whole of West Africa. With an area of 4,800 km², Pendjari is home to iconic species including elephant, cheetah, lion, buffalo, antelope and a host of other wildlife. 

This critical landscape, however, faces several threats, including poaching and human pressure on natural resources. To counter this and rehabilitate the park, the Presidency of the Republic of Benin has entered into this long-term partnership with African Parks as one of its 45 flagship projects under its investment programme referred to as “Revealing Benin”.  Funding is being provided by the Government of Benin along with several other donors who are contributing initial start-up funds, including the Wyss Foundation who made a significant multi-year challenge grant to African Parks specifically to bring new parks under management.

"Pendjari National Park is an exceptional reserve, which requires us to act quickly to protect and revitalise it. Through this partnership, we intend to reveal its full potential” said José Pliya, Director of the National Agency for the Heritage and Tourism of Benin, in charge of the implementation of the project for the Presidency of the Republic.

The 10-year action plan includes securing the park through effective law enforcement and ranger recruitment and training; conserving and monitoring key wildlife species; developing and managing sustainable tourism; and working with local communities. Overall goals of the partnership include doubling wildlife populations, increasing tourism by 50%, and creating as many as 400 new jobs over the course of the agreement.

“Pendjari along with the WAP complex is arguably the most important wildlife area remaining in all of West Africa” said Peter Fearnhead, CEO of African Parks. “It’s a critical and progressive moment for conservation and the entire region; and we are honoured to enter into this partnership with the Government of Benin, to manage this extraordinary landscape for the benefit of both wildlife and the people of Benin”.

The addition of Pendjari National Park brings the total number of parks under management by African Parks to 11, covering six and a half million hectares, which is the largest amount of area under conservation for any one NGO in Africa.

Getting to know the Thames

I haven't posted much recently about my training, mainly because there isn't much to say at this stage.  As I have a full year to get ready for the climb I am spending the first six months working on my general fitness levels, focusing more on specific 'mountain climbing' training for the second half of the year.

This weekend I have started to look in to what training is needed to prepare for a climb, all I can say is *!#@.  I have looked at a few training plans but will be following the one recommended by the trekking company I am going with.  It actually only starts 12 weeks before the climb date so I don't need to get too focused on that training just yet, but keep going on improving my general fitness, it will all help!!

My current training consists of:

• Personal Training - 1x a week
• Yoga - 1x a week
• Kettle Bells and/or Leg, Bum & Tums - 1x a week (alternate weeks)
• Fight Klub - 1x a week
• Totally shredded - 1x a week
• Plank - 1x a day (I'm still going!)

In addition, I have cut out the lifts in favour of stairs and am walking to/from work (25 mins each way) weather permitting.  I have also been having some 'advanced clinical massage' to really focus on getting rid of any knots, trigger points and tightness in my muscles.  This massage isn't relaxing at all but has done wonders in reducing any pain in my lower back - and the associated stretches have given me a much wider range of movement in my legs, enabling me to push myself further when training.

The training I am doing is not only helping me shift a few unwanted pounds but is improving my strength & flexibility and most importantly is giving my heart and lungs a good workout to prepare them for the altitude - I'm sure you can imagine that the higher I go the more important it is that I can breathe!

So whilst the first stage of my training is all about the cardio the second part will be 'endurance' all the way.  The recommended training plan will build up my ability to move day in day out, something that will be important as I can't take a day off half way up the hill!  It builds up over the weeks, increasing the time I spend walking and hill climbing bit by bit as well as adding in weight.  Lets not forget I will be doing the climb with a bag on my back!

So to get me going, and to ensure I don't get bored walking the same route day in, day out, I have started looking at options and targets along the way.  I have just signed up to complete the 25k Thames Bridge Trek in September.  The Thames Bridge Trek is a 25k route along the River Thames in London that is completed by crossing 16 bridges along the way.  That gives me a few months to build up to a 25k trek.

I started to familiarise myself with the Thames by going for a walk today along the Thames a little closer to home.  Caversham to Sonning and back again.  This was around 11k so not quite half the distance but I have time....

The best bit about needing to walk a lot is getting to take in some of the beautiful sights the English countryside has to offer.   I'm determined to be fit enough that the climb won't be a struggle for me - I don't want to be panting and stopping every two minutes for a rest - I want to be able to take in the sights of the African wilderness, to breathe in the warm muggy air and to know that every bit of pain I go through this year was totally worth it.