Lockleaze family climb Kilimanjaro for charity

A Father, Son and Aunt team from Lockleaze jetted off to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in March to raise money for the Southmead Hospital Charity. The money they raise will go towards care for premature and very sick babies.

From Lockleaze to Tanzania - Lockleaze family climb Mount Kilimanjaro for charity.

A Father, Son and Aunt team from Lockleaze jetted off to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in March to raise money for the Southmead Hospital Charity. The money they raise will go towards care for premature and very sick babies.

Liam Barry (25), his Father Kevin (49) and his Aunt Jackie Rees (48), set off in early March to do the epic 19,340ft climb with Liam and Jackie successfully making it to the summit; Kevin didn’t quite make it due to dreadful altitude sickness. The climb and descent took eight days to complete, and the local family have a very special reason for taking on the immense challenge: “Last December my niece Primrose was born at Southmead Hospital and she developed breathing problems,” explains Liam. “She was moved to Southmead’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where she stayed for four weeks. She was looked after around the clock by the amazing doctors and nurses. I cannot thank the staff enough for everything they did for my family. It felt that everyone went the extra mile to make the recovery process that much easier for us, and that’s why we want to raise as much money as possible to support the fantastic job the staff do. Most of my family were born in Southmead Hospital - including my Dad, my Aunt and myself. We want to give something back, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro feels like a suitably huge challenge to take on.”

Liam, Kevin and Jackie have raised just under £3,000 for Southmead Hospital Charity’s NICU fund with their climb, easily surpassing their original target of £1,000. You can sponsor them here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Liam-Barry7

Sarah Reddiford, Communications Manager at Southmead Hospital Charity added, “the hike was very tough and we’re grateful to them for their support”.