A group of work colleagues have raised a magnificent £20,000 for East Cheshire Hospice by tackling one of Britain’s toughest walking feats – the Three Peaks Challenge.
The group of 22 said they experienced nearly every emotion under the sun – from exhilaration to fear – as they embarked on the three tough mountain walks at Ben Nevis in Scotland; Scafell Pike in the Lake District and Mount Snowdon in Wales.
Organiser Natalie Hodgson, 27, said that although many of the group were experienced walkers, they still found the trek tough going.
“We were all in fine form as we started the first walk around midday in glorious sunshine of around 23 degrees at the foot of Ben Nevis,” says Natalie. “We certainly didn’t expect to be crawling over massive snow glaciers at the top of the mountain and we literally had to slide back down to the pathway.”
By teatime the group were ready to confront their second challenge, Scafell Pike, but conditions had deteriorated, and the four-hour hike took place in driving rain.
“That was our toughest climb,” says Natalie. “By the end we just all put our heads down and focussed on getting through the darkness and back to the minivans to head on to our next challenge.”
Five hours later the party arrived at the foot of Mount Snowdon only to be thwarted in their 24-hour challenge by traffic jams at a triathlon in Llanberis.
“But we overcame our exhaustion at this point and pushed hard to complete the challenge in just under 25 hours,” says Natalie.
Natalie was inspired to organise the challenge after her fiancé’s grandmother, Mary Bason from Siddington, was cared for at the Hospice two years ago.
“I will never forget the fabulous support the staff gave to both Mary and her family and whilst it’s never nice to be in these situations, everyone at the Hospice was amazing.”
Members of the group were welcomed back to the Hospice recently as a thank-you for all their support.
Corporate fundraiser, Kate Bowmar, is delighted with the walkers contributions especially as the challenge is so tough.
“The Hospice’s services are free and so we have to fundraise over £7,500 every single day of the year to make ends meet,” she says. “The walker’s efforts are amazing – well done to them all”.
The hikers fundraising sites are still open at https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/19ThreePeaks
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