Team Pennine Conquers Yorkshire 3 Peaks for Charity!

Cash for Kids – South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire

Cash for Kids support children & young people in the South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire area. The team wanted to support their current campaign; ‘Hunger has no Holiday’. A £1,000 donation would provide 20 local children with a hot meal & fun activities over the summer holidays.

You can find out more about Cash for Kids here…

Paces – Sheffield

Paces Sheffield is a specialist centre for children with Cerebral Palsy & other motor disorders. It provides a small specialist school offering conductive education programmes to enrich learning opportunities & transform lives.

You can find out more about Paces here…

Let the Training Commence!

As a team we met up at weekends to do some training walks around the Sheffield area, starting with 8-mile walks, progressing to 13 miles. Sheffield, famous for its rolling hills had the perfect landscape to prepare us for the tough climbs.

As the donations came in & the challenge loomed, as a team, we were a bit apprehensive about what we had committed too. But with the true Pennine spirit, we were quietly confident that as a team we could complete the challenge.

The Challenge!

It was an early start on the morning of the hike. The sky was clear and the forecast looked dry for the morning, with the potential of showers later in the day.

We headed in convoy to Horton-in-Ribblesdale, rucksacks full of water, protein bars & snacks, we felt ready for the challenge. Bob Dulieu, who used to volunteer for Edale Mountain Rescue, was even more equipped with a 2-man shelter, GPS tracker & selfie stick.

At 6am prompt, we began our challenge, with the first Peak in sight & the charities we were doing this for in the back of our minds, we were on our way.

Peak No. 1: Pen-y-ghent (694m)

Although the smallest of the 3 peaks, the scramble to the summit was tough. But we were surrounded by some of the best views & clear blue skies, which really did help. The weather seemed to be on our side too which made some of the climb enjoyable.

By 7.20am we had completed the first peak, which felt amazing! We were rewarded with panoramic views of the Yorkshire Dales, the team hugs & smiles felt great. We had made our first climb in good time.

But the crystal-clear view also gave us a stark reminder of the challenge to come… Imposing Whernside & Ingleborough in the distance.

A 12-mile stretch now lay before us, before we would start the ascent of Whernside. We meandered through beautiful scenery & farmland, with the famous Ribblehead Viaduct in view the whole time. After a quick stop for a selfie below the viaduct & to refuel, we started the ascent. Knees were now starting to ache. Blisters had already formed & it was about at this point when Carlo announced he had new walking boots on!

Peak No. 2: Whernside (736m)

Despite the steady incline, Whernside seemed relentless. It took us a few hours to work our way up. We were over halfway through our challenge now, but the tough climb took its toll & energies were dipping, each step had started to hurt. Luckily, the sight of the summit kept everyone going. And with donations still coming in, we were reminded of the charities we were helping.

A short stop at a farm for tea & coffee in between the two tallest peaks, refuelled us & gave our knees a bit of a rest. We were two peaks down, but still had 8 miles to push until we had completed the challenge.

Peak No. 3: Ingleborough (723m)

Ingleborough was an interesting climb, not as steady as Whernside, it pushed some of the team to the limits. The only way through it was to keep taking a quick break to get our breath back. Motivating each other & reminding ourselves of the huge amount of money we had raised so far.

The huge steps leading up the side of Ingleborough were like something out of Lord of the Rings & at the point where you felt your thighs were about to explode, there was the trig point…

Reaching the summit of Ingleborough was a true high point, we had completed our three climbs. It was all downhill from here. But we already knew that coming down is harder than going up & we realised we still had 5 miles to walk back to our starting point.

It was during these last 5 miles that we came together as a team, helping each other every step of the way. But just as you thought you’d completed another mile, a useful signpost told you you’d only walked half a mile. It was relentless. The only silver lining at this point was the rain was still holding off & the scenery was breath-taking.

Challenge Completed!

3 peaks climbed, 24.5 miles endured, we’d all done it! We’d completed what we had set out to do & we’d raised a huge amount of money for two awesome charities!

That fantastic feeling blotted out the pain of sore joints & feet.

A well-deserved curry was enjoyed that night & we were still receiving donations!

Family, friends & customers have really got behind us, with not only words of encouragement & advice, but also some generous donations which is incredible!

You Helped us SMASH our £2k Target – THANK YOU!

Family, friends & customers have really got behind us, with not only words of encouragement, but also some generous donations which is incredible!

With your generosity we have raised a whopping £3,450!

PLUS, Pennine are matching donations, so the grand total raised is….

£6,900

That’s £3,450 for each of our chosen charities!!!

So from all of Team Pennine, Thank You!