23 Berkeley St Edward staff spent their weekends scaling the three biggest peaks in Yorkshire to raise money for three London-based charities.
They took on the 24 mile route on one of the hottest days of the year, walking almost a marathon distance and climbing higher than Ben Nevis in under 12 hours. This trip was three years in the making, following numerous delays from lockdowns.
Tabita Manolea, Personal Assistant, was one of the team members to take on the challenge.
“We started early – around 7am in the morning – just before it started to really heat up. We made it up the first mountain, Ingleborough, in about an hour. The views were just incredible, Yorkshire skies the bluest we were lucky to see.
We were full of energy at this point, my Fitbit watch buzzed as I had reached my daily target of 15,000 steps by 10am! I was ready to take on Pen-y-Ghent. We made it up there around lunchtime, and quickly wolfed sandwiches down with a backdrop of amazing scenery and a much needed breeze!
Two down and one more to go, we stopped for ice lollies and water refills ready for the final push. Our expedition leader’s advice to pack fresh socks was the best ever received, confidence restored.
We made it to the final peak, Whernside, at 5.30pm, cheered on by jelly babies and as my colleague put it, ‘the sound of people digging deep’.
The thought of an ice cold drink at the finish line was giving us speed now to run the descent, happy realising it was all finished just within the 12 hour challenge time.”
Paul Vallone, Divisional Managing Director of Berkeley St Edward, said:
"I felt incredibly proud knowing that our staff were giving up their weekends to raise money for our charities. The weather made it very challenging, but as usual, the team stuck together, were tenacious and reached the top of all three mountains.
Their fundraising efforts were very impressive too, with all of them giving up their personal time to cook breakfasts for colleagues, bake cakes and promote the event with family and friends.”
They have so far raised £6,000 and counting, which will be distributed between Momentum Children’s Charity, Rethink Mental Illness and Triangle Adventure Playground.
Gabriel Green, Deputy Senior Playworker, Triangle Adventure Playground, said:
"All of us at the Triangle were delighted to hear that the awesome Berkeley St Edward team had not only completed the challenge in such intense heat, but also raised such a terrific amount!
As the team hiked up such daunting heights and back down again, we think it is only fitting to use the kind donations to help fund our extra high new zip line play structure. The Triangle kids have long requested a higher and faster zip line, and thanks to the incredible efforts of all the Berkeley St Edward team we will make it a reality this autumn."
This is the fifth charity event run by Berkeley St Edward this year, with staff having raised over £133,000 to date.