Wheelchair-led team helps raise over £100,000 for charity
A team from Birmingham-based Lombard Vehicle Management, including a wheelchair user, has just conquered Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis, to raise money for disability charities Scope and Capability Scotland.
The Ben Nevis Challenge challenge, with a total target of £100,000, was set by Ken Hames, presenter of BBC TV’s Beyond Boundaries and an ex-SAS member, and stipulated that each team must be led by a wheelchair user. Competing against seven other teams, Lombard was first to the 1,344-metre summit with a time of five hours 45 minutes, a full 20 minutes ahead of the second team and a record time. Including the descent, the challenge took a gruelling 12 hours.
Lombard’s Pete Thompson, a veteran of charity challenges, said, “This was the toughest event I’ve taken part in, not only during the climb itself. We had to undergo serious preparations before taking in the challenge. Training for the event as a team started at the beginning of April in the Lake District, with exercises in team building and communication as well as the skills required for manoeuvring a wheelchair and user up a mountain. We then went to the Peak District at the end of April where we took on a 9.5 mile trek, before climbing Cadair Idris in Snowdonia, Britain’s fifth-highest peak.
“The climb was still a very daunting task, but this strengthens the message that disability does not impose boundaries.”
James Foster, who has Spastic Paraplegia, navigated and directed the team to the summit and adds, “The Ben Nevis Challenge has been the most physically, mentally and emotionally demanding thing I have undertaken in my life to date and I feel very proud to have been part of a team that has been so committed, dependable and charismatic not just in the race itself but in fundraising efforts also. We have beaten our target of £10,000 for the two charities involved, and the funds are continuing to come in through our website www.justgiving.com/lombardvm.
Scope is the disability organisation in England and Wales whose focus is people with cerebral palsy. Their aim is for disabled people to achieve equality: a society in which they are as valued and have the same human and civil rights as everyone else. Capability Scotland is one of the leading Scottish disability organisations and has nearly 60 years experience of providing services to disabled people of all ages in Scotland.
Lombard not only has a strong charity programme but actively encourages employees to participate. “We are committed to supporting employees to get out of the office and provide direct, hand-on help to good causes,” says Lombard Vehicle Management boss, Rob Bailey. “By engaging in the community the rewards are greater for everyone.”
