The 3 Peaks Challenge : Our Story.

12^th June 2010. Our team of 6 walkers and 2 support crew assembled in a car park in Fort William. We stood beneath the might Ben Nevis, knowing that the gruelling Scafell Pike and the tricky Snowdon were yet to follow. The stopwatch began marking time.

And so it began.

Our long day unravelled in a blur of hill and rock and steps and water and cramps and sweat, and snow and miles of road and strains and bananas and rain and jelly babies and companionship and flapjacks and more miles or road and night and day and blustering gale, and more rain and clouds and summits and bases and anguish and most important of all, laughter.

Until, on the 13^th June, as the sun at last broke through the ashen sky we made our final decent of Snowdon and into the waiting arms of our incredible support team. The stopwatch ceased ticking. The dial read 23 hours and 46 minutes.

And it was done.

And then the pain of the stretches and the smiles and hugs and the relief and the champaign and the slow drive to a warm bath and a hot meal with fantastic people, bonded by adversity, and all with new found respect for each other.

We set our challenge. We faced our challenge. We met our challenge.

But below the success lies something deeper. The team were allowed to attempt this activity for one simple reason : we all had the luxury of choosing to take the challenge on

Many of the children spending the night, and many nights, in our hospital do not have the luxury of that choice, and face far tougher challenges than us….. each day. And so whilst our challenge is now complete, the work of the charity goes on.

The work of Radio Lollipop sees volunteers working on the wards with the children, playing games, doing activities and making crafts, as well as providing a child friendly live radio broadcast. The money we are seeking to raise is £1,500 which will buy art & craft materials and activities for a whole year.

So if you are able to make a donation, no matter how small, myself and the team, and the children on our wards will be extremely grateful.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this and if anyone has any questions about the charity or the challenge we are taking on then please get in touch.

And to all those who have already so generously contributed, please accept heartfelt thanks from the whole team.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.