Climbing 52 Mountains and big Hills – to help them breathe!

Can you help us raise funds for the Charity ‘Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis’, in memory of my late husband, the wonderful Dennis Schiavon.

Dennis was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and has since passed away in 2024. We want to help end this disease, so others don't go through losing someone they love.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis is a horrible illness which attacks the lungs and eventually stops the person’s ability to breathe. There is no cure currently. With over 70,000 people in the UK currently diagnosed.

To raise funds, I aim to walk up 52 Mountains/ big Hills in memory of Dennis Schiavon for the charity Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis in the next year.

The reason for doing this!

Dennis and I, and our little dog, Eddie walked together up many beautiful mountains and hills in Wales and around where we live in Herefordshire as well as Europe and South Africa.

After a couple of years with the disease, Dennis could no longer make it up any mountains, so I am going up them this year in his memory.

Could you help and sponsor me, to raise some money for this charity to research the cure, our aim, that no one loses their spouse, or parent or friend to this disease.

My Own Challenge

Unfortunately, since Dennis died, I’ve been left with chronic fatigue syndrome, so this challenge is going to be tough for me, but I wanted to do something useful and to try to help.

I would be so grateful if you could sponsor me to help fund the experts to find a cure.

The challenge – some details!

• I will walk 52 mountains/very big hills (all at a minimum of 450m) in 2026, so one mountain a week! Eek!

• I will try not to repeat a mountain, but it obviously may be very difficult to do that because of weather conditions, locations and times so I may need to repeat some of the mountains, but they will all be individually walked.

• I will aim to walk one mountain/hill a week but maybe because of weather or timings, I might have to walk two or three in one week. But the total will be 52 mountains by the end of 2026.

• Those mountains could be in the UK and the rest of the world.

• Some mountains have other mountains connected to them, i.e.- Pen-y-fan and Corn Du in the Brecon Beacons, I will walk up each of those peaks individually (so from the bottom to the top of each before I count it!)

• There will be times due to weather conditions I will not be able to make it to the top of the mountain in that instance I will not count it.

• I may walk with other people and hope I do! I welcome friends and new friends to walk with me.

• It is my intention and aim to record every mountain with a photograph and or video, and all being well, load it up to GoFundMe and/or a blog page. If, for some reason, I am unable to do that, I will try to find some other form of proof.

• Some mountains have a trig point with a name on it. I will take a photo at that trig point. However, some mountains do not have a trig point, so I will go to the top of the elevation and take a photo and load it up, so my location is recorded.

• But weather permitting, I will try to hold up a sign to say where I am, and the date and the number of the mountain.

So how high is an official mountain?

• Officially, it is 610 meters. However, some that are considered locally as mountains in the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons are lower, so I will walk some of those, but I guarantee that the mountain/hill will be over 450 meters in height.

• I will ensure that 60% of the mountains I walk are over 600 meters.

There may be some other conditions that I have forgotten to write about, and I might add these later. But I'll let you know in any updates.

MY aim is to walk 52 mountains in memory of Dennis, to try to help stop this awful disease from killing anyone else.

• I would be grateful for your help to raise some much needed funds for the Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis charity.

This official charity has confirmed that 90% of the funds they receive will be allocated to the researching of the cure for this disease.

I believe that we can get rid of this awful disease and unnecessary deaths if they have funds to research the cure.

Please help raise even a little money, even a £5 or £10 donation would be wonderful or more! Or sponsor me an amount per mountain! Might give me the kick to help!

Thank you for your time and donation. I’ll keep you posted with regular photos, videos and updates.

Much Love

Tara x x

Some extra notes!

• I will park in the official car park or follow the main route’s parking suggestion, wherever I can and walk from there up the mountain.

• I Hope to set up a blog, so all mountains will be recorded with photos and a small Video, as well as comments about the walk and the route I took. I will let you know when that is up and running. But I'll update GOFUNDME as well.

• All proceeds will go to ‘Action for Fibrosis minus the small fees charged by ‘Go Fund me’