The challenge: Climb Mt Everest, 8848m

I would do this in person but given the current restrictions I will have to make do with cycling a local mountain on repeat!

I now live in Vancouver, so Mt Seymour will be that lucky mountain. This will equate to 10 round trips and over 100km of climbing, although I get a rest on the downhill :)

The Cause: West Wight Sports and Community Trust

https://westwight.org.uk

The West Wight Sports and Community Centre Trust provides activities supporting the community’s physical and mental health and well-being.

Based, on the Isle of Wight, the sports and community centre has swimming pools, sports hall, gym, cafe, meeting rooms, community centre, exercise classes, community kitchen, hair salon, hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic clinic and lots more.

The Centre is a hub for the West Wight community providing a diverse range of services including supporting the vulnerable and isolated, providing youth services aa well as all the traditional activities associated with a sports and community centre.

The History of the West Wight Sports and Community Centre is a story of real community spirit, triumph over adversity and sheer determination. It is the efforts of those people that have left the legacy of the sports centre which has become an integral part of the West Wight way of life and will do for generations to come

My Connection:

Growing up on the Isle of Wight the Sports Centre is one of my earliest memories. We would go there every Saturday for our swimming lessons and if we were lucky happy hour with all the floats! (now that I swim a lot I wish it had been more lessons than happy hour but tell that to a kid!) Finally and most importantly we would spend our 20p pocket money on 1p sweets!!

As far as I can remember it was just a pool back then, but now it has expanded to include all sorts of activities and the capacity to act as the centre of the community. It is run by a dedicated team who give their lives over to supporting the member of the community. Every time I go back you are met with the same friendly faces welcoming you and encouraging every one to get involved.

I have received so much from the team that it is my turn to try and give something back. So please give something to support them and I will kill myself going up and down a mountain to make it extra worthwhile!