2017 Charity Challenge

As 2016 drew to an end and I started looking forward to an exciting 2017 as an Ordnance Survey #GetOutside Champion I wanted to do something that would challenge me personally. Apart from doing what I do for pleasure and as part of the ‘Summits On The Air’ amateur radio award scheme, I am passionate about getting people over 60 out onto the hills. If I was going to inspire anyone I had to push myself further than I would normally do.

Initially I chose two challenges. The first was a year long challenge to climb hills of the equivalent height of the three highest mountains in the world Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga totalling 26045 metres. The second was to complete a self-driven Welsh Three Peaks challenge – Snowdon, Cadir Idris, and Pen y Fan within 24 hours.

As part of the training schedule I set myself, I also included the 12 hour Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge and so the Triple Three Peaks Challenge was born.

However due to daylight constraints the dates for the events are:

Alternate Three Peaks – 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017
Welsh Three Peaks – 4 July 2017
Yorkshire Three Peaks – 12 September 2017

Learn more about each of the challenges.

The Charity being supported this year

As if this was not enough pressure to put on one self I decided that I should do all of this for charity. If I could raise a few pounds along the way for some good causes all the better. The question, as always, was which charity should benefit from these challenges.

Parkinson’s UK

Just after Christmas I discovered that someone very close to me had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. This is a progressive disease of the nervous system marked by tremor, muscular rigidity, and slow, imprecise movement, chiefly affecting middle-aged and elderly people. It is associated with degeneration of the basal ganglia of the brain and a deficiency of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Although there’s currently no cure for Parkinson’s disease, treatments are available to help reduce the main symptoms and maintain quality of life. Parkinson’s UK (registered charity in England and Wales 258197 and in Scotland SC037554) is the main Parkinson’s support and research charity in the UK. They can help if you’re living with the disease and let you know about support groups in your local area.