22 Oct 2020 Community

Supporters take on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge

Taking on a 24-mile walk can be challenging for anyone. But for our dedicated team of supporters, completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks to help The Kirkwood Support Life right in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic was a challenge they weren’t willing to miss.

On Saturday 12th September, four groups of supporters took to the Yorkshire Dales for a socially distanced 25-mile hike in support of the care our teams provide for anyone affected by a life limiting illness in Kirklees.

Many of our walkers originally signed up before the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK and they were set to take part on the original date back in May this year. As we were faced with ongoing difficulties faced by the crisis, completing the challenge in September became all the more important for our walkers.

Despite the challenge being postponed, the teams raised a staggering £7,525 for The Kirkwood!

Rosanna and Adam Drewery, along with Rosanna’s dad, Phillip Holland, family member Dave Brown and friend Chris Druce, joined the team to complete the challenge. The group took on the challenge in memory of Rosanna’s mum and Phillip’s wife, Julie Holland, who was cared for at the end of her life by our nurses on the In-Patient Unit in February 2010.

With it being 10 years since Julie was cared for by our team, 2020 has been an important year for the Holland family and they wanted to do something special to mark the 10-year anniversary.

As they are all keen walkers, they saw our Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge advertised and knew instantly it would be the perfect way to mark the year and raise vital funds for The Kirkwood.

The team said: “We met some amazing people, all doing the challenge for their own reasons. It was a fantastic experience to be walking alongside them. We expected it to be challenging, painful, emotional and rewarding… and it was!”

Our In-Patient Unit Auxiliary Nurse, Megan Birkhead, who joined The Kirkwood team earlier this year, took part with her cousin Dan Smith. Dan, who is a local businesses man in Mirfield, eagerly persuaded Megan to take part to help raise the profile of the work our teams do in the local community.

Working with The Kirkwood, Megan has seen first-hand the hardships endured by all our teams and not only did she want to help raise vital funds, Megan was determined to represent her team on the In-Patient Unit, the wider team and the patients she cares for.

Megan was unfortunately struck down after the first peak with an injury, but Dan soldiered on to finish the final two peaks on his own and in a fantastic time.

Megan said: “The experience was really enjoyable. It was fun and challenging, but in a good way.”

11-year-old Harrison Robson bravely took on the 24-mile walk with his dad’s good friend, Lee Murrell, in memory of Harrison’s dad, Glen, and Lee’s father-in-law, Warren.

Lee said: “We started off on a real high and found the challenge to be an amazing experience. We both completed it with no previous training (although we wouldn’t recommend this!), it was fun but definitely hard!”

Joining the group, Teresa Dunn, who is a member of Dee’s Support Group, decided to sign up to the challenge earlier this year. Although Teresa found the day difficult, she was delighted to finish the walk with the group.

Teresa said: “I really wanted to take on the challenge to say thank you to Dee for being such an inspiration, and to recognise all the hard work she does for The Kirkwood.”

Speaking of Teresa’s achievement, Dee added: “We are all really proud of Teresa in the group, we know she trained really hard for the challenge.”

Our Community Fundraiser, Joanna Doherty, attended on the day to cheer the group on. Joanna said: "After such an uncertain year filled with cancelled events and campaigns, it was wonderful to be out in the fresh air supporting our amazing walkers. Their grit and determination on the day was inspiring and although they found it challenging, it was brilliant to see how much they all enjoyed it."

Details for next year’s Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge on Saturday 17th April 2021 are now live, click here to find out more.

Why not join our Facebook event to be the first to hear updates on next year's event? Click here to join.