Last month, on August 5 and after three years of waiting, months of planning and a full week of trudging through gruelling terrain, battling extreme temperature swings and altitude sickness; a group of eight SAYFC members finally found themselves on the summit of Africa’s highest peak – the mighty Kilimanjaro.

Completing this famously tough hike is a feat that will certainly live long in their memories, but each one of this intrepid team which included Barbara Shaw (Strathmore Junior Agricultural Club (JAC)), Christie Hair (Mearns JAC/Strathmore JAC), Fraser Russel (Lesmahagow Young Farmers Club (YFC)), James Campbell (Loch Lomond YFC), James Hamilton (Avondale YFC), Katie Watt (Avondale YFC), Sally Mair (Turriff and District JAC) and Tom Stoddart (Forfar JAC); will tell you that their greatest achievement didn’t come on the mountain.

For after the climb was finished and they had shared news of their accomplishments; along with the outpouring of congratulatory messages from family and friends back home, there also came a flood of donations to their three chosen charities: The My Name5 Doddie Foundation, Chron’s and Colitis UK and RSABI. And those donations have kept on rolling in. So much so, that the total amount raised at the time of writing has reached the impressive sum of £18,300 and counting – almost twice their original goal!

We asked team member Fraser Russel to elaborate on his experience:

Why did you decide to sign up for this trip?

The trip was billed as SAYFC’s biggest ever trip, I like a challenge and climbing Kilimanjaro definitely presented one, both physically and mentally. Not only this, but I also wanted to explore a country and continent which I had not been to before and see a different way of life. The culture was totally different, and I got the chance to experience this with 8 liked minded Scottish Young Farmers.

Why did you choose these particular charities to support?

In particular, I chose the My Nam5’s Doddie foundation for Motor Neurone Disease as my Grampa Russell sadly battled this illness and passed away in 1987 before I was born. I’d like to think I helped to raise this money in his memory and also for Doddie Weir who is a role model to us all.

Crohn’s and Colitis Uk was of particular importance to our team member Tom Stodart who has this condition. As a team, we all respected him a lot for taking on Kilimanjaro in the face of this and he definitely didn’t let it hold him back.

RSABI was another charity we could all agree on due to the prevalence of mental health issues within farming and the stigma which surrounds it. Conquering Kilimanjaro was a mental challenge in itself but not nearly as difficult a battle as someone may face when struggling with their mental health. This solitary struggle is something which happens all too often to some of our closest friends and family in the farming industry and we wanted to play our part in combating this.

What was the hardest part of the challenge?

The hardest part of the challenge was definitely summit night. We had walked for 9 hours during the day prior to this and needed a quick turnaround at base camp. At 4670m we had to force down a meal for energy (most of us had lost all appetite due to altitude, a common side effect) and get a short sleep. I slept for about 3 hours and then we were awoken at 11pm before getting prepped for the final ascent. The summit hike lasted from midnight until 7am, it was around -10c and all our water froze. Overall, we walked for 18 hours in a 24-hour period – it was exhausting, particularly when we hadn’t eaten or slept very well prior to this.

How did you feel when you reached the summit?

The wind near the top was perishing but once we got to the summit at 19,341ft it was somewhat sheltered and the views of the glacier and over the clouds were mesmerising. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and the fact that all 8 of us had got there made it 10 times better.

What will be your biggest take away from this adventure?

The biggest thing I will take away from the adventure is how happy the people of Tanzania were who climbed the mountain with us. They didn’t have many possessions but were all extremely generous and kind. All 8 of our YF team bonded with the Tanzanian team of mountain climbers. We all had a great laugh as a group of 8 and this continued onto the safari and our nights out in Moshi. It’s a bit of a cliche but this trip has definitely made us friends for life!

If you would like to show your support for this impressive achievement, donations and messages are welcome at https://www.justgiving.com/team/sayfckilimanjaro2022