For Alice

It's been 16 months since I climbed Kilimanjaro and I thought it was time that I planned something else for Alice :)

My big news is that I'm going to be spending my October half-term trekking for for Alice. I'll be carrying her ashes along the Inca Trail in Peru and camping rough at night, to reach the Sun Gate on the morning of Thursday 29th October, which is the second place on Alice's list of places to be - 4,200 metres is the highest point, which is 'Dead Woman's Pass'! 

Machu Picchu

Some people think it's odd that Alice asked me, a then fourteen-year-old, if I'd do some pretty odd things after she'd gone - but they were normal to us! As soon as I could walk a few miles, I was dragged up mountains and now I just love being outdoors. Nine-months after we lost Alice, in October 2013, I set off on the first of my promises to her - to climb the world's highest freestanding mountain, Kilimanjaro, and scatter some of her ashes at the summit. It was incredibly hard, but I did it and I'm now on with her next request. 

Summer in England :)

The first place we took Alice was the Maldives where we scattered some of her ashes over a coral reef frame - it was amazing and we can go online and look at Alice's coral whenever we like. If you want to look, click HERE and it's frame KH1118. Then, I took Alice to the summit of Kilimanjaro, which was the first wish on the list she left us and probably the hardest of them all - that was thing I'm most proud of in my life. Over Easter, we're going trekking in the Pyrenees and we're taking some of Alice with us there, so that will be the third place she gets to be, and then it will be the Inca Trail in October! There's plenty left including Hawaii and re-visiting the Orca's in Vancouver.

Scattering Alice's ashes over her coral reef frame

I've got to raise money for my trek and I'll be raising money for Alice's Escapes, my sister's charity. The charity does amazing things and it's amazing how much has been achieved in such a short time. I help out at the weekends and during school holidays (me and Mum were at the charity office on Mother's Day) and I love meeting some of the families we have staying. They are usually really lovely people and you realise how much a holiday means to them. Some of the parents are so stressed with hospital and work that it's just nice to see them relax a bit. The poorly child can just chill and I can relate to being a sibling of a sick child. It's really nice for them to get some quality family time too, it really benefits everyone. 

Alice was always smiling

So, I'm asking you all to help me please. You can SPONSOR ME or you could even do a fundraiser for me, to help me reach my target. I'm going to be making things to sell and I'm also offering babysitting if you are in the Ulverston area. I'm planning an fundraising event in Ulverston and hopefully doing some bag packing too. One of my plans is to film the whole thing, so I should have another video to upload, but a Peru video rather than a Kili video. It's important to me to help families get a week away, because I know what it's like to live in a hospital and I am also determined to take Alice to everywhere she wanted - glad she didn't ask me to swim with sharks! This is for you, Alice #OneLifeLiveIt

Other than my trekking plans, I am keeping my head down and focusing on my exams. I've managed to fit Oxfam in a bit more lately, which is good because I do enjoy it and they're all so nice in there. Oh and you remember that my mum found her necklace? Well, she thought that they'd just post it back or something, but Inside Edition actually flew her back out to New York and she got to meet the family who found her necklace. How amazing is that? You can watch the video HERE. She got to spend a few more days out there and everyone looked after her really well - she did a couple of shows, visited the Empire State Building and spent a whole day in the 9/11 museum. On her last day, she went to find the Alice in Wonderland sculpture which is in Central Park.

Alice in Wonderland, Central Park