June 23, 2023

TAKING FUNDRAISING IN CAMBRIDGE TO NEW HEIGHTS

Over the last year a variety of local charities have taken on the Mountain Challenge at our Clip ‘n Climb Cambridge and Climb Quest Milton Keynes climbing centres as one of their fundraising activities. The aim of the Mountain Challenge is for your team to climb the equivalent height of an iconic mountain and raise money for your charity doing this.

The mountain you or your supporters choose is extremely flexible depending on factors such as the number of participants and whether a mountain relates to your wider fundraising efforts. Here are some examples of fundraising sessions over the last year:

Conquering Everest for the Arthur Rank Hospice

A father and son team, Alex and Jasper, took on the epic challenge of climbing the equivalent height of Mount Everest (8,848 metres) in support of Arthur Rank Hospice. This meant climbing 1,475 times up the Clip ‘n Climb Cambridge walls, which they split into 15 sessions of 100 walls per session.

Here is what fundraiser Jasper said about his fundraising efforts:

I started raising money for Arthur Rank about four years ago because they took such good care of my grandad before he passed away.

My challenges so far have been completing a marathon (in small chunks), an iron man (again in small chunks) and most recently climbing the equivalent height of Mount Everest at Clip ‘n Climb in Cambridge. The staff there were so helpful, creating a plan that would see my dad and I scaling the highest mountains until we reached the height of Everest. They were able to support our challenge and encourage us all the way. It felt like they became part of our team.

When fundraising I feel pleased that I can contribute to a good cause. My grandad really loved sports, especially football, so I feel like raising money in this way honours him and would make him proud.

Last year I visited Arthur Rank and I got to see where the money I raised was going to. I hope more people fundraise for Arthur rank in the future as it’s such an important cause. Now I’m looking forward to starting my next challenge!

Sarah Clayton, Community Fundraiser at Arthur Rank Hospice said:

It is always a joy to see what challenges our supporters come up with to gain sponsorship. As a young supporter Jasper exceled himself yet again with this year’s climbing challenge. We are so grateful for his family’s continued dedication to Arthur Rank Hospice Charity.

Preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for Willen Hospice

In 2024, Willen Hospice are taking a group of supporters to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. With a year to go, the hospice booked a session at Climb Quest Milton Keynes for the trekkers to climb the equivalent height of the mountain together (5,895 metres). This involved a team of around 20 climbing up the Climb Quest walls 737 times.

Dawn Clark, Challenges Fundraiser, who is leading the Mount Kilimanjaro challenge, said:

It worked so well as a team bonding/get to meet each other event. Even the trekkers who had just said they would come along as more of a social and have pizza joined in too. Your team was fantastic, very supportive of everyone and joined in climbing to help us reach the summit.

Climbing Ben Nevis for Wintercomfort

Ben Nevis is our most popular mountain to climb as it is a realistic target for groups of 6 or more climbers. Charities can book an exclusive session at either of our climbing centres and have up to 6 teams of 6 doing this challenge.

A recent charity to take on the Ben Nevis Challenge at Clip ‘n Climb Cambridge was Wintercomfort, a homeless support charity based in Cambridge.

Eleanor Gow, Wintercomfort’s Community Fundraiser, said of the event:

The group had a great time, it was such fun and we really enjoyed the challenge. Some of the people who use our services had the idea of organising a fundraising challenge to help raise money for social, and wellbeing activities at Wintercomfort, such as a visit to the seaside, fishing trips etc. As it’s Mental Health Awareness Week we decided this week would be a good time to share this with our supporters.

Helping local scouts climb their way to South Korea

Groups from both Cambridgeshire and Milton Keynes Scouts booked separate events to climb the equivalent height of Mount Hallasan, the highest mountain in South Korea. The challenge was to help raise funds to attend the 2023 World Scout Jamboree in Korea.

With some scouts raising over £400 each, both scout groups estimated that almost £10,000 was raised from their events, helping their scouts climb their way to South Korea!

A parent of one of those taking part, Valerie Sills, who helped organise the event said:

I wanted to say thank you again for hosting our Scouts for the Sponsored Climb on Wednesday. It went really well, everyone had fun and they smashed it! Also, just to say, your staff were fab – very happy, friendly, welcoming, helpful and certainly knew what they were doing! A credit to you!

Julie Goodwin, one of the parents who helped organise the event, said:

Just a quick note of thanks to you and your team for a fantastic event last night. It was extremely well organised, fun and the team reached their goal! All the funds will be a great contribution to the funds they need to raise ahead of attending the 25th World Scout Jamboree that takes place next August in South Korea.