Ben Nevis Challenge

We have just received the following report, from Holly Mackenzie, who has raised an incredible amount for CamKids, in memory of her Father, Ian: 

On March 30, 2015 our father, Ian Mackenzie (Mac to his friends) passed away suddenly. As anyone that has lost a parent will know, tough days followed. 

He had always been an active man, since being in the Royal Marines as a Mountain Instructor the outdoors was an essential part of his life. Spending time walking the mountain ranges was his idea of sheer perfection, it fed his soul. So it was no great surprise that his will stated his ashes were to be scattered at the summit of Ben Nevis. In fact the wording read ‘I will climb Ben Nevis if it’s the last thing I do’. Did I mention he had a wicked sense of humour? 

There followed some considerable planning as my brother lives in Dubai. Our friend Vicky announced she would like to join us too so everyone was working towards the trek that was to take place on the 31st May 2016. Training was made more difficult in that both Vicky and I live in Norfolk, one of the UK’s flattest counties! 

So to provide some additional motivation, we thought it would be a nice gesture to raise some money for charity in memory of Dad. He would have been tickled pink at the thought of people giving to a great cause in his name. So why CamKids? Well, our Dad was a great traveller and having done the family thing he spent the last years of his life living in Cambodia during the Summer and Norway in the winter. He lived frugally but was a known character in the places he resided, a real people person you might say. He would play street games with the children and they would follow him knowing that his pockets held sweets and he always had time for a chat and a laugh. CamKids felt like a good fit as soon as I read about the projects they’re involved with and so we set up a Just Giving page. We set our target at £500 which we thought was optimistic but we wanted something to strive for. Having now completed our ‘trek’ and at the time of writing our total stands at £1,080.95! We have had some amazing support and I count the experience as one I’m truly proud of.

That said, I have announced my retirement from mountain climbing following a 100% success rate. It is time to hand that baton to my children. 

Everyone at CamKids would like to say a huge THANKYOU to Holly and the team. If you would like to add to Holly’s total, you can do so at: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/TrekforMac.