Business Community Moved Mountains For Sick Kids

A group of 28 people from the business community who took their fundraising to new heights when they conquered Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, raised over £186,000 for us.

The idea for the trek, dubbed the Kili4Kids Trek, came about last year after Mike Weaver, associate director and regional manager at professional services firm, WSP, decided he wanted to do something further to help patients at our hospital following our annual Dragon Boat Race, in which WSP had a boat. A number of his colleagues also wanted to get involved and after getting in touch with us to share their plans, the challenge grew legs, we helped to bring on other partners.

Quickly, the Kili4Kids Trek team grew to a 28-strong group with members from across 11 organisations, including Absolute Collagen, adi Group, Amtico, BSN, DLA Piper, Midland Engineering, Raccoon Events, Specsavers, WSP, as well as a parent of a patient, our CEO, Mark Brider, and other members from our charity and Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

On 29 January, with almost a year of training under their belts, the intrepid team set off for Tanzania, to take on the iconic mountain. Their aim was to raise substantial funds to bolster our £3m It Starts Here Appeal, to transform our hospital’s front entrance and help reduce the fear and anxiety of the 100,000 sick kids we treat every year.

After landing in Tanzania, the team had one last night of sleep in proper beds before gearing up to take on the eight-day trek to the summit at 19,341 feet (5,895 metres) and back down again. They set off supported by over 90 mountain guides and porters, bringing the total personnel count of the trek to nearly 120, demonstrating what an undertaking the challenge was.

The mountain wasn’t kind to the trekkers, but all 28 of them showed incredible mental strength as they overcame a host of weather conditions, from the hot sun on them near the base to freezing temperature as they reached the summit and torrential rain in between. They also dealt with severe altitude sickness among many other challenges, but they persevered and reached the top eight days after setting off.

Mike said: “We all knew climbing Kilimanjaro was going to be a challenge, but I don’t think any of us knew quite how big that challenge would be, especially the last seven-and-a-half hour push to the summit, for which we had to set off in the middle of the night. It was tough, but ultimately it was thinking of the hospital’s patients – the kids we were doing it for – that really got us through.

“A lot of us began the challenge as strangers with a common goal but the shared experience really brought us together and helped us support each other along the way, and we’ve ended with life-long friends.”

Mark Brider, CEO at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, who joined the group on the trek, said: “I’m incredibly proud to have been part of the Kili4Kids team and to have completed what was without doubt, one of the hardest physical and mental challenges any of us had ever experienced.

“However, we know it’s nothing compared to the challenges our sick kids face every day and as a charity we’re immensely grateful to our trekkers for their courage and grit in reaching the summit as well as their fantastic fundraising which has seen them raise such a phenomenal amount for our It Starts Here Appeal.”