A SCOTS teacher is set to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for charities Who Cares? Scotland and Mary’s Meals.
Having already raised £5,000 for the two charities, Andrea Paterson wanted to do something that would benefit others, while pushing her out of her comfort zone.
She set herself the challenge of scaling Africa’s highest mountain this month, which is expected to take six days, whilst raising money for two charities close to her heart.
Andrea’s two chosen charities support both care-experienced people in Scotland, and children in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Mary’s Meals serves nutritious school meals to hungry children in 18 of the world’s poorest countries, including Ethiopia, Syria and South Sudan.
The promise of a good meal attracts these children into the classroom where they can gain an education and hope for the future.
Andrea chose Who Cares? Scotland as her second charity after recently completing a secondment role with The Learning with Care Team within Fife Council.
The charity supports the learning of care-experienced young people who have disengaged from education.
Andrea had heard from colleagues about the positive impact Who Cares? Scotland advocacy has had on the young people they work with.
Who Cares? Scotland is Scotland’s only national independent membership organisation for care-experienced people.
The term “care-experienced” refers to anyone who is currently in care or has been for any length of time regardless of their age.
Who Cares? Scotland supports care-experienced people to understand and fight for their rights through independent advocacy and offers connection opportunities through local and national participation activities and events.
A self-confessed “reluctant hillwalker”’,”, Andrea has been training for her climb by scaling Munros and other hills ahead of her trip to Tanzania on 6 July.
Mount Kilimanjaro is the largest free standing mountain in the world and is expected to take six days, consisting of a gruelling seven to eight hours of climbing, to summit.
Speaking on her fundraising efforts Andrea said: “I started off with a goal of £1,000 for each charity but others’ generosity saw that raise to £2,000 and now I’ve managed to raise a total of £5,000. I’m extremely grateful to everyone for their contribution.”
Andrea has given special thanks to the Kitchin Group, restaurant owners in her area, who despite only being asked for a voucher, made Who Cares? Scotland their charity of the month.
They are pledging a portion of all sales in support of Andrea’s climb, resulting in a donation of £1,261.
Louise Hunter, Chief Executive at Who Cares? Scotland said: “We are extremely impressed and grateful to Andrea for her commitment and courage in taking on this staggering challenge in support of Who Cares? Scotland.
“Her efforts will help us to provide more opportunities for Care Experienced people to access support, and to come together for connection, friendship and to feel a sense of belonging.”
“We’d also like to thank the Kitchin group for their generosity. We are glad our work has resonated strongly enough to prompt such a kind gesture.”
Morven Macgillivray, supporter engagement manager at Mary’s Meals, went on to say: “We’re so grateful to Andrea for taking on such an incredible challenge to help feed hungry children around the world.”
“Thanks to kind-hearted supporters like Andrea, who give their time, skills and donations to support our work, we are able to provide the promise of a good meal in school so children can learn their way to a brighter future.”
