Our Night with Kiko Matthews

OUR NIGHT WITH KIKO MATTHEWS

We have been talking about Kiko on our social media and blogs for quite a while now. So when Kiko asked if we wanted her to do a talk we absolutely leapt at the opportunity. If you have read our blogs on her before, you will know that we completely admire and respect what she is doing. Having heard her talk we are now in utter awe of her!

Last night, we had such a great evening at the Marquis of Westminster with our candidates, clients and good friends. The prosecco was flowing and chips (sweet potato we’ll have you know) were being eaten. We were all there to listen to Kiko Matthews talk about her incredible solo transatlantic adventure in 2018. Our guests were all transfixed on the enormity of her row. The talk was factual, fascinating and hilarious!

For those that don’t know, in January 2018, Kiko Matthews is aiming to row the Atlantic solo. She also wants to break the Women’s world record by 10 days, therefore completing the 3000 miles in 45 days. This would be no mean feat for anyone to achieve, but Kiko is doing it having overcome Cushing’s disease, as well as having the tumour raise it’s ugly head again, a few months ago, with just six months to go until the big row.

In 2009, Kiko was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease; this is an extremely rare illness which is formed from a tumour on your pituitary gland. From this, Kiko developed diabetes, insomnia, psychosis, muscle wasting amongst other symptoms which began to clear after some time in hospital.Having recovered from Cushing’s, Kiko decided that life was too short to be doing something that you do not love.

Kiko’s loves were Prince Harry and Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP), so she had to find a way to combine them both, with the outcome of a royal marriage (!) and doing something which made a difference. She decided to help support her friend Charlie who wanted to be the first person to go across the Atlantic on a SUP. This fulfilled one of her dreams, but the other one involving a certain man was not.

After a couple of years her confidence had grown and she decided she wanted to have a go at crossing the Atlantic- by rowing! Hilariously, the more she thought about it the more she knew that this was the way to meet Harry!  She would be getting media attention, public attention and so of course he would meet her and fall in love with her and so on……! Due to recent events, it might be harder for her to marry him, but there is still time Kiko and we are supporting #FindPrinceHarry!

At some points in the talk, Kiko had us crying with laughter, but there was also a serious reason as to why she is doing this row. By doing this amazing challenge, she is pushing herself out of her comfort zone, learning a new skill (she had never rowed until she started training for the transatlantic crossing) and proving that the impossible is possible. She is also raising awareness for some very important and worthwhile causes.

Kiko is doing this row to raise money for Kings Hospital, who not only saved her life back in 2009, but also removed the tumour when it appeared again in May 2017, allowing her to get back to training in under a week.  They are raising money for a new state of the art intensive care unit to make the hospital experience less stressful and more relaxing.

Whilst preparing for this row, Kiko has founded the 100 togetHER campaign. 100 togetHER  aims to stand for: Challenge, Collaboration and Community. 100TogetHER is centered around women, it shows that women can achieve any challenge if we collaborate and support each other within the community.

Kiko is looking for 100 women to fund £1,000 each. A woman does not have to be an individual, it can be a business or a group of women collaborating to be one. By joining 100 togetHER, you will not only be supporting Kiko financially, but also emotionally, as with every form which gets filled out, she asks for a selfie which she will pin in the cabin of the boat. When times get tough, she will look at these photos and it will spur her on  and get her over the finish line in Barbados!

With any challenge with such enormity, it requires a huge amount of funds. There are various ways in which you can support Kiko and or Kings hospital:

DONATE TO KIKO’S TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING:

www.gogetfunding.com/kikomatthews

DONATE TO KINGS COLLEGE HOSPITAL

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kikomatthews

TEXT

KIKO99 + amount to 70070

GOOD LUCK KIKO! All the JG Girls are behind you!

If you would like to find out more, please visit www.kikomatthews.co.uk