June 2024, me and my friends/colleagues of Merseyrail embark on a physical and mental challenge...

Participating is..

Ste Kelly

Mick weedon

Paul Davies

Alex Wilkins

Luke dunbavin

Alan underwood

eddy creggy

Tim Weston

Alan smith

Neil Jones

Craig talent

The Three Peaks Challenge.

On Friday 21st June we will be travelling up to Scotland to start our challenge of climbing 3 peaks in 24 hours!!

This is all in aid of a very courageous little boy and a charity he relies on. His name is Oliver Padfield and the charity is DBA UK.

Firstly, let's talk about the challenge...

We've decided to do a challenge that is not only physically tough, but faces mental challenges too. We know how daily Oliver has these challenges to face, so why not get behind him, knowing when we're together, having a team behind us, we can do whatever we put our mind to!

Our challenge will start at Ben Nevis in Scotland. We will start at 5pm and hopefully finish around 10pm, straight into a 6 hour drive to Scafell Pike. Arriving early doors (4am), climb Scafell Pike hoping to finish at 8am...then you guessed it, straight on to the drive to Snowdon (5 hours). Arriving early afternoon, start climbing Snowdon and finishing around teatime... Challenge complete!

We need all the support, fundraising, words of confidence along the way. We've got you Oliver!

Secondly, let's talk about the reason as to why we're embarking on this...

The reason is a little, almost 3 year old boy, Oliver Padfield. He's a son of one of our colleagues Jess, and Grandson of another of our colleagues Mike (both train drivers at Kirkdale). When Jess was approached with the concept of this challenge, she was overwhelmed with gratitude 'the kindness which has been shown is heart warming - to know Oliver has so many people behind him, I know he's going to be okay. I always tell him how much he's loved'. Oliver entered this world a little early, weighing a tiny 990g. From this point on, he faced a lot of challenges himself, then at 10 months old, he was diagnosed with a condition called Diamond Blackfan Anaemia (DBA). In Oliver's case, he can't make his own blood - requiring blood transfusions every 4 weeks. DBA is a very rare condition, effecting approximately 125 in the UK. Treatment is limited. The charity DBA UK give families hope. They connect those affected together to ensure the journey is a little less lonely and put funds into research to find out more about the condition and hopefully find a cure.

This year Oliver is embarking on his own challenge. He is having a bone marrow transplant in hope to cure his condition. A BMT consists of very intense chemotherapy, isolation, lengthly hospital stays and the fear of many complications.

Whilst in hospital, Oliver, his Mum Jess and dad John will know in the background how much support they have behind them.

Please consider donating to DBA UK to provide essential funding for more research to be done in the hope of finding kinder less risky treatment options. Such a small charity needs supporting.

Also, by donating you'll help the group through this challenge. Knowing we've supported this family and others like them will give us the push to get over those peaks.

Thank you!