I have worked with the charity ‘Thames Valley committee’ since 2000 and have become involved in all types of fundraising activities. We run events such as balls, football games, the three peaks challenge, and even rowing the length of Lake Windermere. These are all very demanding, some in the preparation, some in the execution.
I remember the first time I climbed three peaks, Snowdon, Sca-Fell Pike and Ben Nevis all in under 24 hours. I had heard of the challenge but did not appreciate the physical reality of it.
John Clarke, then president of Thames Valley National Grocers Benevolent Fund as it was known back then, suggested it would be a good idea for me to participate in the challenge – not wanting to miss an opportunity to please, I agreed as John is a good bloke and I like him!
Having always tried hard to keep fit even in advancing age and weight gain, I would go to the gym, walk or cycle at least three times a week, it then felt quite within my reach to do the three peaks.
Set for raising some cash as sponsorship, we departed flat and leafy Berkshire to mountainous North Wales in June 2000 to conquer the peaks as described.
The challenge starts at 9.00 a.m. and the plan is to reach the top of Ben Bevis at 9.00 a.m. the following day.
Once the challenge is completed, eat some breakfast, drive to Carlisle (on way home to Berkshire), find a hotel and get pissed.
I managed to do all that, but could hardly walk by the end of it. I found religion and myself about six times over the previous 24 hours and realised what a real friend is and uttered oaths of ‘never ever, never again would I do this’, it was utter madness!
I really believed it would be a walk in the park, roped paths of shingle with cobbled edging, graduating climb like peeling an apple, hot dog stands with steaming tea and cakes at regular intervals, toilets and rest areas. No such luck, it is more demanding than I can actually tell you in print.
So, we did it again in 2002, however in 2004 we went for something a bit tougher, The Caledonian Challenge, 54 miles nonstop from Ben Nevis to Loch Lomond, the latter took a month to recover from.
2006 was interrupted with sceptic arthritis after a field visit to Indonesia, so I stayed out of it for that one. On 5th and 6th July 2008 we were back on track, we did the three highest peaks of England, Sca-Fell Pike, Sca-Fell and Hellvellyn all over 3,000 footers a lot of scree and scramble climbing. It was a more sedentary pace, 2 Sca-Fells (71/2 hours) on the 5th and Hellvellyn (4 hours) on 6th. The picture on the right may explain something of the plight.
Caravan is the charity for people in the grocery, provisions, greengrocers and off-licence industries. We assist around 1,500 former workers from warehousemen and delivery drivers to sales representatives and checkout operators who, for a variety of different reasons, are struggling to cope. Assistance consist of quarterly cash payments and help with the essentials of modern day living and an annual home visit from our assessors.
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