Have you ever wondered how tall Big Ben or the Gherkin actually is? And how long it would take to climb it? Well King’s School in Worcester has and their Eye-Prentice team decided to bring these buildings to Worcester for a charity climb-a-thon, “Climb London”, to raise money for local charity Sight Concern Worcestershire.
The Eye-prentice Challenge was set up by Sight Concern with King’s School as a way of encouraging their 6th form students to not only develop valuable business skills but to also raise money. The charity is the only one dedicated to improving the lives of the estimated 19,160 people living with significant sight loss across Worcestershire. They have been successfully supporting blind and partially sighted people, to lead independent and fulfilling lives, for over 130 years.
The local community and students from King’s School turned out in force to take part in the Climb-a-thon on the 22nd March, at Vertical Limit Indoor Climbing Wall, Shrub Hill. Planned by students Ellie Kinsman, Bethany Allen, Stuart Lanigan and Henry Wilde with support from the charity’s Fundraising Manager Fiona Blake and local marketing agency, modus creative, the team set out to raise £2000 through sponsorship for the climb, raffles and cake sales.
When asked about what the driving force behind her determination to be apart of Eye-Prentice, Ellie Kinsman, team leader, said:
“When Fiona came to the school I was truly inspired by what the charity do. We had to put these simulation spectacles on which, for a moment in time, allowed us to understand what it was like to be partially sighted or completely blind. This had a lasting impact on me and I knew then I wanted to volunteer to raise money for the charity. The others felt something similar and that’s when the Eye-Prentice Challenge team was formed.”
The event attracted one of Sight Concern’s clients, Nigel Goodwin, who was determined to tackle the climb and defy any misconstrued ideas that people with sight loss are any less able than those with sight.
Sight Concern pride themselves on their work which aims to empower people with sight loss to learn how to do things as coherently as possible whilst delivering the message that we should all be more focused on what can be done rather than what can not.
The team at Vertical Limits were outstanding in their roles throughout the day not only in supporting Nigel but also the other fundraisers including youngest climber, 5 year old, Melody Blake.
As a result of sheer determination from everyone involved, 14 of London’s landmarks were climbed including The Shard at 310m, Big Ben, the London Eye, and St Pauls Cathedral.
After weeks of collecting sponsorship and through various forms of fundraising, the eye-prentice team is delighted to announce that they have raised a staggering £1600, with it expecting to reach the £2000 mark in the coming weeks.
Fiona Blake, Fundraising Manager, said:
“The climb-a-thon was a fun and different way to raise awareness and money and all of the team at Sight Concern were thrilled to see people of all ages challenging themselves and supporting the charity. The team from Kings School have been absolutely superb in organising this event and volunteering for such a great cause. The relationship between the school, ourselves and modus creative, is a true reflection on the local business community and we can’t thank all the people involved enough for their contribution.”
