Uganda Volunteering Project: Play Action International

Hello from Uganda!  Apologies for the overdue update which you have probably been anticipating since my departure on 1st July.   I suppose a suitable excuse would be that we have embraced the digital detox even when Wifi has been made available. I can speak on behalf of the other twenty volunteers of our four week project group that we have enjoyed dissociating from our phones and avoided the compulsive scrolling through countless emails and social media feeds as we would do naturally at home. Since our group began the four week project north of Jinja at Nambale School, there have been other groups that have come and go who are involved with projects of different lengths: either two weeks or four weeks. Typically those on the two week projects are allocated smaller schools to renovate whereas those on the 4 week project are designated larger schools to construct a playground from scratch alongside local builders who are enrolled by Play Action International. In this way we hav...

Like all good ideas; this one was born in the pub, sort-of. In all honesty I’d wanted to do the three peaks challenge for years but I’d never found a good excuse to rope anyone else into it. So when we needed some method of fundraising it seemed like the perfect opportunity to combine doing some good with a fun challenge. I’ve never mentioned this to the other lads but I was always very confident in our success. We’re all young guys in good shape and I thought we’d prepared very well. The way I saw it the only potential hazards were the weather and traffic which were totally out of our control. Cue Ben Nevis and other than some keen wind and rain at the peak where I had to quickly throw some extra layers on to avoid hypothermia, we completed the stage at an easy pace in good time. Following that we mademore good time down the M74 and M6, which was the only part of the route which threatened serious traffic. Personally, confidence was sky high. That is until a voice piped up from the ba...

 3 Peak Challenge Photos  Hopefully these pictures will give you a fair impression of the extreme range of conditions we had to endure across our journey from Scotland to Wales through England.  As you will notice below, the number of pictures per climb decline as we became more disciplined with timings as the clock counted down as well as being sensible not to reveal our phones to the torrential rain and wind especially during Scafell Pike and Snowdon climbs.  Ben Nevis  Scafell Pike  Snowdon (This is the only photo we took at the summit of Snowdon mainly because we were already tight with our schedule for completion in under 24 hours and secondly because it was too rainy. The only moment of jubilation and satisfaction that warranted a capture was our four soaking bodies battling against 30-40mph gusts atop Mount Snowdon!) 

  3 Peaks Challenge Update: Mission Accomplished! We are very proud to announce the accomplishment of completing the three peaks challenge in 23 hours 44 minutes commenced on 23rd June 2023. Thank you for all your encouragement and support that really fueled us to complete this incredible challenge. Below are the key details outlining the timings and routes.  Further posts will feature personal accounts of the challenge which I strongly encourage you to read as we all had varying experiences and perspectives despite walking and driving the same journey! Photos will be published in a separate post. Ben Nevis (Scotland’s tallest mountain) We set off walking from the Glen Nevis car park at 6:30am and followed the Ben Nevis Mountain Path approaching the lake ‘Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe’ which approximately marked the half-way point. As the ascent progressed the views over Fort William became foggier until we reached the summit where visibility was poor after gaining 1,339 m in...

Hello everyone, With the official fundraising deadline set by Play Action International approaching soon, I would like to briefly express my gratitude towards everyone who has donated and supported thus far through my JustGiving Page. Remember, you will be making a significant difference to the children in Uganda and I wish you would be able to see their expressions of excitement, enthusiasm and appreciation as they use the newly constructed playground for the first time and many years to follow. Together, we have reached 68% of the target which is already a magnificent achievement.  With regards to our national three peak challenge, we have provisionally set a date of 23rd June so stay tuned for updates to follow as we tackle Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdown in under 24 hours. Although the fundraising deadline is the end of this month (May), my JustGiving page will remain active until the end of June before me and and the rest of the team arrive in Uganda on 3rd July. Please k...

Pen y Fan & Corn Du, Brecon: First practice walk (29/4) in preparation for our national 3 peak challenge <24 hours we set out to achieve in late June this summer.  Morgan, Rory and I headed up to Bannau Brycheiniog National Park early on Saturday morning to beat the weekend traffic and rush of walkers on what turned out to be a very sunny day- perfect for a hike in the Welsh countryside. There are two main routes that can be taken from the East of the summits of Corn Du and Pen y Fan connected by a ridge; the shorter but steeper ascent or the longer and shallow climb. We chose the former to most appropriately replicate the presumptive shallowest gradients experienced when we encounter the individual 3 peak climbs and to simulate the environmental conditions.  Typically, it was sunny and with scattered clouds during the ascent but covered over as soon as we reached the two summits. As per the photos, we still managed to appreciate the panorama.  (Left to right: Me (...