Second Trip - Derwent Hill 13th -15th November 2009

The second trip away saw us go to Derwent Hill for the weekend. Derwent hill is owned by Sunderland City Council and they were kind enough to allow us to stay for the weekend.

Further info can be found at www.derwenthill.co.uk/derwenthill/

After arriving on the friday night we had dinner then set out on a night walk from Hawse End back to Derwent Hill, when it proceeded to absolutely lash it down.

Saturday morning dawned with more rain and after a cracking breakfast and some light naps (Chris)




We headed outside to do some orienteering in more rain which was really enjoyable (if very wet)

We then were fortunate enough to have a talk on what we could expect on Kilimanjaro by one of the course instructors who had done it the previous year.



This was really helpful and everyone in the group found something from the presentation and certainly gave us plenty to think about.

After some warmup teambuilding excercises we then went out to "the High Ropes" and set about challenging the Derwent Hill record of 16 milk crates.

Jackie getting ready

Getting a safety briefing before we went to the high ropes course

First view of the ropes


After the safety briefing one aim - get the milk crates higher and higher



Nearly off....



Done record broken!!



Sunday saw us split into 2 groups and we headed out up to Haystacks - final resting place of Wainwright.

Weather was interesting with horizontal rain and sleet and I then decided I needed to invest in some waterproof trousers! Highlight was the flask of hot chocolate on top of Haystacks provided by one of the instructors and it was almost magical when we go to the top, as the rain stopped and the clouds parted for maybe 2 minutes to show us the view.

First walking trip - October 2009

The group met up for the first time in anger back on 4th October to do some training. The first walk we did together was a flat one in the Langdale area, near Ambleside in the Lake District. It was a pleasant route with the opportunity to get to know some of the people who were doing the walk and also an opportunity for people to try out their walking equipment.

These 2 photos are of some of the most popular pubs in langdale - not that we would know.....

The Brittiannia Inn, Elterwater
















The New Dungeon Ghyll

Retrospective Training Information

Well following a meeting at the Berghaus headquarters in September 2009, a series of training (ish) weekends/walks were suggested running up to the climb in April 2010.

In essence we agreed that we should meet roughly once a month - so October, November (December timeoff) January, February and then the last one in March, just before the off.

There was also was a possibility of having one of the weekends at Derwent Hill.

The Sunderland Partnership Kilimanjaro Challenge 2010

In April 2010 a group of 20 people from the Sunderland Partnership (comprising Public, Private and Voluntary Sector Organisations) will be attempting to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb will attempted over a period of seven days from the 16th April - 22nd April.

The climb is a charitable one and myself and 2 colleagues from City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust are supporting The Princess Royal Trust Sunderland Carers' Centre, a charity which offers a confidential advice, information and support service to carers throughout the City of Sunderland.

Half of our money raised will be going to work of the charity which provides:

• Information and advice
• Support and a listening ear
• Support at meetings with health, social services and other agencies
• Carers support groups where carers can meet others in similar situations
• Courses on a range of caring-related subjects
• Social activities to give carers a break
• Newsletters every two months
• Complementary therapies
• Support and activities for young carers
• Opportunities to influence service development

The other half of the money will be going to the Africa Blackwood Conservation Project which is planting trees on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro to reverse the devestating effects of deforrestation, hopefully mitigating our carbon footprint and leaving it in a better place than it was when we arrived.

All of our personal costs are covered independantly which mean that 100% of your donations go to the charity (even more with gift aid!) donate online at www.justgiving.co.uk/scottelwell