Drogheda woman Judith Chalmers McEneaney has been climbing mountains for years and has climbed all of the major peaks in Ireland and the UK, but at the end of this month she will take on the biggest challenge of her life – Mount Kilimanjaro which, at 5,895 metres above sea level, is the highest mountain in Africa.

Judith is probably best known locally for her work at Boyne Rugby Club which, as a former player, is a job that she loves but, she says, “If I’m not in the rugby club you’ll find me up a mountain!”

Judith and her colleagues on the climb will fly to Doha on January 31^st and from there to Serengeti Kilimanjaro Airport which is close to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Training for the climb starts the next morning.

Judith will be joined on her adventure by friends Elaine McCann from Drogheda, Richard Compton from Leitrim, Fiona Hillen from Newry and Tony Digby from Kerry.

Climbing Kilimanjaro is scheduled to take five days to reach the summit and another two days for the descent. The climb will be followed by a two-day safari in Tanzania before the group returns to Ireland on February 11.

“I’m really looking forward to the trip and can’t wait to get that photo taken when I reach the top” Judith said, adding that it is the adventure of a lifetime.

Judith is paying all her own expenses for her journey to the roof of Africa but she says she will share the experience with people back home via social media.

She has also decided to use her adventure to raise funds for Tredagh Lodge, the Alzheimer Society’s Day Care Centre in Drogheda which supports people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, and also their families, with a range of different services.

The idea to use the trip to support Tredagh Lodge came when Judith had a meal in a local restaurant with a friend who she now realises was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and experienced great difficulty ordering from the menu.

“She kept forgetting that she had already ordered and changed her mind several times and the waiter became more and more frustrated” she said.

She recalled hearing about the Alzheimer’s Association expressing their desire to make Drogheda a Dementia Friendly town teaching local businesses to be aware that customers may have problems and encouraging frontline staff to be aware of the signs of dementia and how to deal with it.

“Tredagh Lodge is such a beautiful place and if I can do something to make it easier for local people to get the care they need I will be very proud.” she said

You can make a donation to Judith’s appeal by clicking HERE. 

Below is some information about the next Dementia Awareness Training Day which takes place on January 29 in Drogheda Library.