Weekend of 11-13 August, 5 of us will (hopefully) be completing the 3 Peaks Challenge in order to raise money for 3 key charities that have done more than my family and I can ever thank them for.

My son, George, was born in September 2021, but within hours of his birth, he was diagnosed with something call Tracheal-Oesophageal Fistula and Oesophageal Atresia, or TOF for short. This basically meant that he was born where his food pipe terminated in a pouch in his chest, and the bottom part of the food pipe that connects to his stomach, was attached to his windpipe. Ultimately this meant he was unable to feed and resulted in us being blue-lighted by ambulance up to NICU at St. Michael’s Children's Hospital in Bristol, where he underwent lifesaving surgery hours later.

My wife and I spent weeks in Bristol, as George remained in NICU recovering from his surgery. This was made significantly more manageable by the first charity we want to raise money for, 'Cots for Tots', which are part of 'The Grand Appeal'. Cots for Tots provided us with free accommodation in Bristol throughout George's recovery, by arranging for us to stay at the Cots for Tots House. This is basically like a university dorm, managed by the amazing Anne, and without this we would have had to be travelling the minimum 1hour journey every day back and forth to the hospital from home, which would have been really challenging in what was already a difficult time.

The second charity we are raising money for is ‘The Grand Appeal’. This charity makes a hugely positive impact to the goings on in and around St. Michael's Hospital (where George spent the first weeks of his life in NICU) and Bristol Children’s Hospital, which is where George’s supervision has now passed to. The consultants that saved George’s life work here, and we have also had several visits here - some planned, others not and by ambulance due to George being at increased risk of choking as a result of his surgery. This included an unexpected stay over Xmas last year, where via The Grand Appeal, Xmas presents were brought round to the children and parents kept going with teas and cakes and even a Xmas dinner! It’s an amazing charity and we were really touched in particular at their work at this festive time. This was not exactly how we thought we would be spending George's first Xmas, but they made the situation as positive as it could be.

And finally, we wanted to split the money raised a third way, and give some to the ‘TOFs’ charity, who specialise in support and education for the condition George has and have been an invaluable source of support for us since George was born with this. Money raised will enable them to continue their amazing work in supporting more parents like us, many of which have children with TOF that are significantly more poorly than George.

So, we are a team of 5 of taking on the 3 Peaks Challenge, consisting of my Dad, 2 Brother-in Laws (Ned & Craig) and 1 best friend (Chris). We are attempting this fully self-sufficient, meaning after we fly up to Glasgow, we will then be driving ourselves to the foot of Ben Nevis, and then aiming to scale Ben Nevis, drive to Scafell Pike and climb this, then jump back in the car and drive to Snowdon, and complete the final peak, all in 24hours. 10 years ago, pre-children and still active with my hobbies, I would have said this would have been no problem! Unfortunately, I cannot say this same level of confidence exists today, and this is going to be really tough for us all, but totally worth it if we can raise some good money for these 3 deserving charities.