Already the pair have succeeded in raising £32,000 – in excess of the £25,000 target they initially set themselves when they started out on the challenge to honour the memory of Quentin and Surjit Stott’s son Dylan, who died last year of meningococcal septicaemia.

“Most of the money has been kindly donated by the coin-op industry and Surj and I have been frankly overwhelmed by the generosity of individuals and organisations that have helped us so much,” said Quentin Stott, who is Managing Director of Newark-based machine manufacturer Reflex Gaming.

“It has not been unusual for people to give us personal cheques for £500 or more and some of the pledges from companies such as Crown Leisure and Games Media were incredibly generous,” says Surjit Stott, who has been working full-time on the campaign.

“I would also like to make mention of Roy and June Howell, who raised £3,030 by not having an alcoholic drink for a whole month.”

Quentin and Kevin plan to climb Mount Kilimanjaro via the seldom-used Umbwe route and via Western Breach, arguably the most challenging trekking route up the volcano.

At 5,895m/19,340ft, Kilimanjaro is the world’s highest free-standing mountain and Africa’s highest point. The trip itself is 13 days long and includes a three-day acclimatisation preparation by the ascent of nearby Mount Meru (4,556m/14,947ft).

There are over 2,500 cases of all forms of meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia reported in the UK each year, and Meningitis UK is planning to commit a minimum of £450,000 this financial year into research to find a vaccine to protect against all forms of meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia.

The aim of this award is the support of innovative or 'high risk' research that complements an already established meningococcal or pneumococcal research programme.

“We want to ensure that other families never have to go through what we went through losing Dylan so suddenly and the monies that you have all donated to us will make a significant contribution towards finding a cure,” continued Quentin Stott. “Kevin and I are looking forward to putting our training into action on Mount Kilimanjaro and would like to make one final call to anyone who hasn’t already sponsored us to donate to this really worthy cause.”

To pledge support for Trek-4-Dylan, contact Surjit Stott on 07971 617 986 or surjchand@aol.com

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