Electrical Contracting News (ECN) June 2017 | Page 36

FEATURE
CHALLENGE FOR A CAUSE
Tessa Ogle in the
shade of Kilimanjaro.
THAT’S SUMMIT SPECIAL!
Back in February we spoke to Tessa Ogle, managing director of the Electrical Industries Charity, as
she prepared to lead a team of nine trekkers to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Here she shares her
experiences from the eight-day adventure with a reminder of why the trip was undertaken.
C
limbing the tallest free
standing mountain in the
world is not an everyday
challenge that many
people are willing to take.
But nine enthusiastic
trekkers joined me on
the Electrical Industries
Charity’s (EIC) first Challenge for a Cause
and embarked on the journey of a lifetime
to raise funds for the Hendrie family, who
have lost a loving husband and father to a
very rare form of cancer.
The nine trekkers who joined me on this
extraordinary experience included Johanne
Stimson of Heat Mat; Andrew Dykes of
SES Engineering Services; Mike Smith, of
SES Engineering Services and senior vice
president of the Electrical Contractors’
Association (ECA); Denise Hillier of Spring
36 | June 2017
Electrical; Mark David Ward of Power 1
Group; Dave Gilbert of SCV Electrical,
Rosemary Phillips of RDM Electrical and
Mechanical Services and Joseph Hogg of
Edmundson Electrical.
The journey to the top of Mount
Kilimanjaro has indeed proven to be one
of the most challenging experiences for
everyone in the group. But compared to the
Hendrie family’s struggles that they had to
face, the challenge to the top of the summit
was nothing in comparison, and that is what
kept us going throughout our eight-day trek.
Scenic approach
Our journey to the top followed the
Lemosho Route, which is widely considered
to be one of the best and offers a remote,
unspoilt and scenic approach to the
The journey begins….