Yorkshire 3 Peaks Raising Money For PSS

Please help!

On Saturday 6th September I shall be attempting the Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge in order to raise funds for the Pregnancy Sickness Support (PSS) charity. I hope to complete the 25 mile challenge in less than 12 hours climbing Pen-Y-ghent (2273 ft/ 694m), Whernside (2414 ft/ 736m) and Ingleborough (2373 ft/ 723m). Three peaks to represent the three trimesters of Hyperemesis Gravidarum hell I went through to bring Adam in to the world. You can read more about our Hyperemesis Gravidarum story here.

If you would like to sponsor me you can donate here.

The story behind the plea

I started training for the challenge a year ago. I had high hopes of spending months training my body to physical perfection in order to get up the peaks. I have spent hours training – as documented here, but the physical perfection part is simply laughable. I weigh more now than when I started and have encountered several setbacks – including two bouts of bronchitis.  However, I am more determined than ever to get up those three peaks.

The reason is simple. Pregnancy Sickness Support needs funds in order to continue with its amazing work. Awareness of the condition has been improved and our supporters network has grown incredibly over the past 3 years. However, demand for support is outstripping our meagre resources. We are a small charity and employ one part time member of staff. The rest is run by volunteers. The charity is working hard to secure sustainable funding for the service.  It costs £50 just to match an HG sufferer with a trained volunteer. This does not include the day to day running costs of the charity.

My role within the charity has increased since I started the challenge. Last July I set up and now administrate the Pregnancy Sickness Support online Forum where we now support over 900 sufferers and survivors. I check the Forum and its email account several times a day and have never had a day away from it.

In March I started the Adventures of Adam blog. During my HG pregnancy I vowed to make every day an adventure once I had recovered. This blog is the outcome of completing a 100 day play challenge with Adam as part of that promise. I have a section dedicated to HG friendly play activities so that Mums can still be part of their children’s play whilst they are ill. 

In March I became a trustee of the charity. I attend monthly teleconferences, face to face quarterly meetings and help in decision making across the charity.

In May I created the second HG Awareness Day video which has been viewed over 1,500 times across all formats. I will soon start creating the second HG Survivors Annual.

The original date for our Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge was the end of May. Due to two bouts of bronchitis we had to postpone but we still visited Yorkshire. My amazing 2 year old HG survivor son managed to climb Pen-y-ghent unaided and walked 7 miles in 4 hours without a single complaint! He is certainly an inspiration.

Also in May Adventures of Adam was a finalist in the Brilliance in Blogging (BiBs) Fresh Voice Award and in June I went to BritMums Live which I got to share with other HG survivors.

What with this, training walks, running a blog AND looking after a very energetic toddler it certainly has been a busy year. As a result I haven’t been able to ask for donations. So, if you enjoy my toddler play activities, have benefited from the HG friendly play activities, are grateful for the awareness that the HG Day video created, are thankful to have found the PSS online Forum or simply want to support the Pregnancy Sickness Support charity then I need your help.

Please donate whatever you can. Every penny counts towards helping PSS to aid HG sufferers get through their pregnancy.

Read about our recent 19 mile and our 18 mile training walk!

UPDATE: We completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks! You can read about our adventures walking up Pen-Y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.