Grenadier Guards officer Richard Da Gama, is going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya for Veterans Aid. The expedition will take place in August 2014, with the first challenge being the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro which, while higher, is less challenging then its smaller, but tougher brother, Mt Kenya. It is expected to take six days of hiking to scale Kilimanjaro and a further five days to reach the top of Mt Kenya.
Captain Da Gama has served in the army since 2008 when he was commissioned into Grenadier Guards. During that time he has been deployed on two operational tours to Afghanistan, training missions to Malawi, Canada and Belize and conducted public duties at Buckingham Palace. After completing a spell as Battalion Operations Officer, he was posted to NATO Land Command in Turkey where he is still serving.
Richard heard about Veterans Aid through a good friend of his, Lizzie Hunt who recently ran the London Marathon for VA.
He said, “Lizzie has been praising all the great work you do for Veterans. It was brilliant to find a charity ready to step in and help ex-Serviceman and women who find themselves in crisis.
“My plans for the expedition started as a personal challenge; however, as soon as I learned about VA, I wanted to undertake a charity challenge in an attempt to raise funds to support this excellent cause. The work Veterans Aid is conducting daily to support those who have fallen into crisis is highly impressive.”
Richard has always been interested in Africa. He helped fund a teaching project in Zambia before teaching at the school himself, as a volunteer, for seven months.
Having hiked to Everest base camp and summited Mt Toubkal the prospect of summiting two of the highest peaks in Africa presented itself as the perfect challenge.
Richard said, “To make the challenge a little harder all kit and equipment required will be carried personally without the help of porters. All the funds for the undertaking have been self-generated so every penny of your generous donations will go to the projects that help the Veterans.”
To donate please visit Richard’s JustGiving page.
