AN EVESHAM family will be hoping to pile on the pounds in a different way this Christmas in a festive feast of endurance.
While we are all tucking in to our turkey and treats, Paul Boggeln and his children Laura and Adam will be scaling Mount Kilimanjaro in a bid to raise vital funds for three worthwhile causes.
The trio are set to fly out to Tanzania on New Year’s Eve (December 31) before starting their gruelling climb of Africa’s highest mountain on January 3.
Paul, who works as an operations director for the Property Software Group and lives on Mount Road in Bengeworth, told The Observer the idea came to fruition because he wanted to do something ‘ambitious’ for a milestone birthday.
“It was my 50th birthday in April this year and last year when we were talking about what I wanted to do for my 50th I said to my children it would be great to do something ambitious like climb Mount Kilimanjaro,” he said.
“I forgot all about it and then this time last year my daughter said ‘right dad it is your birthday in April when are we going to book Kilimanjaro?’
“I couldn’t really back out of it at that point so we decided to go for it and booked it earlier this year.”
Laura, 25, and Adam, 22, are raising funds for the Tusk Trust and Teenage Cancer Trust respectively, while Paul, who turned 50 in April, has also chosen a cause close to his heart, Prostate Cancer UK.
“I have got a good friend who is going through prostate cancer treatment and has been for the last two years,” he added.
“The more you hear about it the more people you hear are affected by it, but actually comparing it to things like breast cancer the treatment and testing for it is very poor so I thought it would be a good cause to choose.”
Despite completing the Worcestershire Way 30-mile hike and the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge already this year, Paul admitted the group have never undertaken a challenge like this before.
The eight-day trek will see them set off on January 3, with the aim of reaching the peak on January 8 and touching back down two days later, something Paul was confident of achieving.
“We are all going into it with a can do attitude because I just have this dream of the three of us standing on the summit,” he said.
“We’re being realistic but we will give it our best shot.
“It seems a long way away since we booked it and it is not just two weeks or so, so it is going to be an interesting Christmas, we will watch what we eat and what we drink.
“We will be somewhere at New Year’s Eve, I am not quite sure where, but I think we will have more of a celebration when we come down on the 10th. We will do our celebrating then.”
Visit www.justgiving.com/paul-boggeln/ , www.justgiving.com/LauraBoggeln/ or www.justgiving.com/ABoggeln/ to sponsor the trio.
