Mountain walkers brave terrible weather to raise £3,400 for Morecambe charity

Wednesday, 26 July 2023 08:06

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

Esme Thornton, Chloe Almond and Matthew Almond

Three local walkers have completed a gruelling mountain challenge in less than 24 hours to raise funds for a Morecambe-based charity for disabled young people.

Esme Thornton from Halton and Chloe and Matthew Almond from Heysham raised funds for Unique Kidz and Co by taking part in an organised National Three Peaks challenge of over 30 walkers from around the country,

To date they have raised over £3,400, after beginning the challenge on Saturday.

The first peak they reached was also the highest, Ben Nevis in Scotland stands at an imposing 1,345m (4,411 feet). Chloe, Matt and Esme quickly joined the pace of the fastest group and reached the summit in just two hours 43 minutes.

After the descent, a minibus drove the group down to the Lake District so they could climb Scafell Pike, 978 m (3,209 ft) in just one hour 52 minutes. An extra layer of difficulty was applied as they took on Scafell as night fell.

Another minibus drive and some snatched sleep for the challengers before they crossed the border into Wales for their final peak – Mount Snowdon or Yr Wyddfa.

Whilst not as high as Ben Nevis, standing at 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) the weather pulled in and mist, fog and ice cold rain poured down as they set off on the final stretch.

Pushing on through the terrible conditions, Chloe Matt and Esme reached the top (below) and unfurled their flag made by the young people of Unique Kidz and Co to mark the end of their challenge.

Esme, who works as a playworker for the charity, said: “Doing the Three Peaks Challenge was an amazing and rewarding experience. I decided to do it because I wanted to push myself and raise money for Unique Kidz and Co.”

Chole and Matt Almond said: “We have personal experience of the amazing work that Unique Kidz do in the local area. So when they asked for volunteers to raise money by attempting the National Three Peaks challenge, with some trepidation we signed up.

"To climb three of the most popular mountains in the UK back-to-back was an incredible experience, one we will never forget. We were thrown all the elements during the challenge – beautiful sunshine on the lower slopes of Ben Nevis but freezing mist on the top, high winds / driving rain on Snowdon and an enjoyable experience coming down Scafell by head torch with the night coming in.

"By completing 23 miles of walking and just over 10,000 feet of ascent the sense of achievement of working as a group to collectively achieve the goal, makes you forget the tiredness from lack of sleep; and aching legs. That comes the day after but is short lived. We both certainly enjoyed walking the three peaks as it stretched us physically and we would recommend it to anyone looking for a challenge.”

Chris Pilkington, fundraiser for Unique Kidz and Co, said: “We waved our amazing three peaks challengers off on their incredible adventure the day after our charity’s 14th birthday.

"As we looked back over how far our charity has come and how much we have grown; Chloe, Matt and Esme were taking strides into our future as the incredible amount of funds they have raised will bring us one step closer to expanding our centre and our development dreams.

"We are so grateful to Chloe, Matt and Esme as well as everybody who has supported them along the way. They have done an incredible thing for our charity and their hard work and efforts will mean that we can change the lives of more disabled young people in our area.”

Unique Kidz and Co is a Morecambe based charity which runs a range of services for disabled children, young adults and their families. The charity was set up in 2009 by two parents of children with disabilities.

It currently supports over 180 local children and young adults through its afterschool clubs, holiday clubs, daytime support service, siblings group and stay and play sessions.

Unique Kidz and Co relies heavily on fundraising and grants to be able to continue providing its life changing services. The charity needs to raise at least £180,000 each year to continue.

Esme, Chloe and Matt's fundraising page can be found here.