REDDITCH businessman Dean Attwell is getting ready to undertake the second biggest charity challenge of his life, to reach the South Pole.
Dean, the group chief executive of Redditch based business Oakland International, is self-funding his polar expedition to ensure all money raised goes directly to support children’s charity Molly Olly’s Wishes.
After successfully completing a North Pole challenge in 2017, Dean has been training hard with specialist endurance coaches at Forder PT to ensure he will be ready for this next frozen challenge, which begins with a 14-hour flight to Punta Arenas in Chile where with the rest of his expedition group he will spend two days checking kit, reviewing procedure and doing final preparations before flying on to Antarctica.
Molly Olly’s Wishes co-founder and trustee Rachel Ollerenshaw said: “The team at Molly Olly’s Wishes are extremely grateful to Dean and everyone at Oakland for their support.
“Dean and the team have only recently been introduced to the charity but have got stuck in straight away.
“This is a really tough challenge and we hope people will dig deep to support and spur Dean on.
“Together we can make a very real difference and help to make those dark days brighter for children facing very challenging circumstances.”
The charity was founded by Rachel and Tim Ollerenshaw following the death of their daughter Molly who was diagnosed with a Wilms tumour.
Sadly, following her five-year battle Molly passed away in 2011.
Molly Olly’s Wishes supports children and their families, with additional help to ease the many burdens of living with a terminal or life-threatening illness by granting children individual wishes and providing emotional therapeutic support.
Dean said: “All expedition costs are covered, so every penny donated will go directly to support the work of Molly Olly’s Wishes which does such amazing work supporting children and their families living with a life threatening or terminal illness.”
On arrival in Antarctica Dean and the group will move to the Union Glacier basecamp spending a day acclimatizing before final drop off at 89 degrees south latitude and the starting point for their trek to the South Pole.
“We’ll be skiing between six to ten hours a day at an altitude of approximately 3,100m before we finally arrive at the South Pole on January 14, 2020.
“Any and all donations to support this wonderful charity, no matter how small, are very much appreciated.”
To support Dean visit his fundraising page: https://bit.ly/32AbWg8
