A group of almost 80 property professionals successfully completed the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge last week, so far raising over £15,000 for the four Air Ambulance charities.
The group from Savills offices including Telford, Carlisle, Chester, Clitheroe, Corbridge, Darlington, Lincoln, Lichfield, Peterborough, York and Wooler embarked on the hilly challenge at dawn on Tuesday starting out in the village of Horton in Ribblesdale before climbing the three Yorkshire peaks of Pen y Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, which equate to approximately 24.5 miles in total.
Stuart Jeffries, director in the minerals and waste management team at Savills in the North, who is leading on fundraising for the Air Ambulance charities in the region, organised the event. He comments: “What started out as a relatively small affair quickly blossomed into one of the most prominent and well-supported events in our charity fundraising calendar this year.
“This event was the culmination of months of organisation and training and the total that has been raised so far is testament to the individuals who took part. The teams set off at 6am in wet, miserable conditions but remained in high spirits throughout the day, helped by our fantastic support team who met them at various check points along the route. There was a real party atmosphere as the teams met up for supper and exchanged stories from the day.”
The funds raised will be split equally between Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, Midlands Air Ambulance, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Great North Air Ambulance and North West Air Ambulance.
Andrew Pearce, director and head of farm agency at Savills in the Midlands leads the Air Ambulance fundraising committee for the real estate firm in the Midlands. He has also been a trustee of the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance since 2006.
He says: “I believe this is one of the biggest groups to undertake this challenge and having 80 people on the hill at the same time is quite an undertaking and a great achievement by all who took part. Having undertaken this challenge five times now – including twice in the last two weeks – I know what an effort our whole team put in to complete it. The elevation gain is approximately 1,500 metres across the route and it took the team between 10 and 12 hours to complete so it is no walk in the park.
“I know some people pushed themselves beyond their limits both mentally and physically to get to the finish and it was so rewarding to see the whole Savills team integrating and working together to complete the course. It would be fair to say that many great friendships were forged along the way.”
The Air Ambulance is the official charity of the rural division at Savills in 2018 and this is just one of a number of events being organised across the UK to raise money for the cause, with a view to raising £100,000 this year.
The fundraising pages will remain open until the end of this month. To donate, visit the Midlands or North fundraising pages.
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