Burgess Hill friends to climb Mount Kilamanjaro to fund ‘irreplaceable’ St Peter & St James Hospice

Andrew Brown and Rob Ward, both 53, are raising money for the hospice which supported Andrew’s wife Natalie, who died on Christmas Eve.

Andrew said: “Rob suggested we climb Mount Kilamanjaro, and Natalie said ‘you could do that but don’t do it yet, wait until I’m gone’.

“Her time was running out and I wouldn’t have wanted to go for that time, those last weeks and months were very precious to us.”

Natalie was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which spread to her lungs, one week before her fiftieth birthday in December 2017.

When she was told it was terminal in January 2019, she and Andrew decided to do some of the things they’d always wanted to do together.

Andrew said: “We went to Las Vegas, we visited a wildlife sanctuary to feed lions and tigers because she’d always wanted to go on safari, we had a family holiday to the Amalfi Coast and saw Pompeii.

“We were very lucky to be able to do this. I’d rather have her here now but we squeezed a lot in.”

Natalie spent the last five weeks of her life at the hospice, and Andrew said ‘she couldn’t have felt better looked after and safer, their treatment was exceptional’.

“The support they gave was second to none. Natalie felt a certain amount of trepidation before she went but meeting people going through the same thing helped.

“The support they offered, all for free, the service they offer is irreplaceable.

“We were going to go over for Christmas dinner, they do everything they can to make life as comfortable as possible.”

Andrew and Rob will be climbing Snowdon this weekend, and will climb Scafell Pike in April, Mount Kilamanjaro in May, and Ben Nevis in August.

Their trips are self-funded - ‘every penny raised is going to the hospice’.

The pair are also documenting their journey on their YouTube channel.

Andrew said: "It's reasonably lighthearted, and the videos aren't long.

"We're just letting people know what we’re doing to show we’re serious about what we’re going to do, we’re out walking and training every day."

The fundraiser will run until Christmas Eve and they hope to raise £16,000 to run the hospice on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

To donate, visit virginmoneygiving.com/someonespecial/ nataliebrown45.