Moving Mountains for Riley

On 29th September 2024, in memory of the beloved Riley Evans, six of Shrewsbury’s finest specimens-Riley’s Dad Andrew Evans (Evo), Ben Tomkinson, Dave Peach, Ian Hughes (Ziggy), Steve Peach and Dean Suter will be heading over to Tanzania, Africa to take on Mount Kilimanjaro - the highest freestanding mountain in the world (5895m above sea level - 6 times the height of Snowdon!!).

The 11-night trip will see them climb through the 5 climate zones -Cultivation, Forest, Heather Moorland, Alpine Desert and Artic Summit where they will attempt to climb and sleep in temperatures as high as 35’C and as low as -20’C towards the summit.

This challenge is not for the faint hearted. Incline, extreme weather conditions, mental and physical ability aside, the main challenge will be how they their bodies will cope with the altitude as they move higher up the mountain and oxygen levels decrease. Only around 50% of people successfully reach the summit due to altitude sickness and unfortunately no amount of training can prepare them for this.

Most of the lads are training from scratch and have no real hiking experience, but they have already shown such commitment to the cause and are determined to conquer this mighty mountain – it’s as much a mental test as it is a physical.

Every step of the way the lads, along with the rest of the town, will have the beloved Riley Evans in mind ❤️ With big brown eyes and the warmest smile, Riley was a special, kind-hearted young man with everything to live for. He loved a rumble with the lads, especially his brothers and adored playing Fortnite like no other.

Unfortunately, in Summer of 2023 Riley was diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer, and although he fought the illness with the utmost bravery, he very sadly lost his battle in November. Through such adversity, Riley still maintained his huge happy personality, continuing to make his family smile and laugh through the hardest of days, whether it was prank calling the Chinese take away, singing Bob Marley to his family or making TikTok videos.

He continuously kept the doctors, nurses and all the lovely and dedicated staff amazed by his kind and caring nature and alongside his Mum, Natalie Choudhury with the amazing donations from our home town ‘Shrewsbury’ and followers from the Facebook page ‘Riley’s Journey’, creating the best Halloween, ‘The Waterfall House at Birmingham Children’s Hospital’ has ever seen!! A real testament to his strength and resilience and his family couldn’t have been any prouder of him.

Riley’s Mum, Natalie, is in the process of setting up a charity called ‘Life of Riley’ to remember Riley and to raise funds for various resources connected to his hospital stay that we were invaluable to the family during this difficult time. The main aim is to raise enough money to sponsor a room at the Ronald McDonald for a year, to help support other families, as well as smaller things like providing children with birthday/party packages to help them decorate and celebrate on the ward – a fitting legacy for a boy who loved to party with his family!

We invite you to follow the lads training progress on their Facebook page ‘MOVING MOUNTAINS FOR RILEY’ and to show your support by donating whatever you can afford. Every penny raised will be much needed motivation for the lads as they embark on gruelling training hikes during the upcoming months and will be well spent on providing comfort and joy to families in their darkest hours. 100% of all proceeds will be donated directly to the charity as the lads have paid for the trip themselves.

Thank you

If you wish to add a comment of support to your donation, you can do this on the email you receive following the donation.