Sue Howorth, Founder and Co-Director of The Family Business Network has donned her hiking boots to take on the mighty ‘Wainwright Challenge’ to fundraise for the Lake District Calvert Trust.
The Lake District Calvert Trust deliver challenging outdoor adventure experiences for disabled adults and children. The charity was one of many that was forced to suspend their activities as the country went into lockdown early last year.
Sue described how she felt after having seen an article in the media about the impact of Covid on the charity and its visitors, saying, “Having worked in the outdoor industry for a time in my earlier career, I knew that Covid would have a huge knock-on effect for the sector.”
“When I heard the Lake District Calvert Trust talk about how badly their funding had been hit by the pandemic and how it was threatening their survival, it really affected me. The centre delivers amazing experiences for disabled people and I knew I wanted to support them and give something back to their community.”
When deciding how to go about fundraising, Sue turned to her local environment for inspiration. She says, “As a resident of Windermere, I’m no stranger to the Lakeland fells but I’d never challenged myself to climb the higher peaks. I always knew I would walk some of the Wainwrights and decided that this would be the perfect challenge.”
For Sue however, this challenge will be no walk in the park – not least because of the sheer number of fells involved. Alfred Wainwright documented 214 fells in his pictorial guides and Sue will be aiming to summit each and every one in just 12 months! Combined with this, Sue does have a fear of heights and coming down steep descents, so this adds to the enormity of the task ahead.
Having completed 29 Wainwrights so far, Sue says her toughest moment to date was descending Ill Bell, a part of the Kentmere Horseshoe. She explained, “We tackled the horseshoe and the winds were high, it was cold and I was losing my nerve. Luckily, my experienced walking companion coaxed me down and we carried on.”
Despite a delayed start due to Covid travel restrictions, Sue remains optimistic that she will complete her challenge by the end of the year and aims to reach her fundraising target of £3,500 for the Lake District Calvert Trust.
Jennifer Scott, Fundraising Manager at Calvert Lakes said, “What Sue is doing for Lake District Calvert Trust is amazing and we cannot thank her enough. It’s not just the fundraising but also how much awareness she is creating through all her social media activity with the photos and stories of each Wainwright she has walked.”
“At Lake District Calvert Trust we have been hit very hard. This has been the toughest 12 months in all our history. We are so reliant on fundraising and are hugely grateful to each and every person that helps us.”
“The pandemic has given people a taste of what it can be like for people living with disabilities and the loneliness that they can face every day of their lives. Now more so than ever, our work is vitally needed. Monies raised can help us to buy equipment, for example, £1000 would purchase 10 ghyll scrambling kits or a specialist profiling bed. As a centre we subsidise every stay by £30, so the monies Sue is looking to raise would help over 1000 people to come and stay overnight with us.”
Visitors to the Lake District Calvert Trust benefit in so many ways – it is so much more than a place to have fun in the outdoors – visitors also develop personal skills that they can apply in everyday life and that allow them to grow and flourish.
For anyone wishing to support Sue in her challenge, you can visit her fundraising page via the Investors in Community platform: https://app.investorsincommunity.org/charity/645/project/1451
One hundred percent of the donations raised will go to The Lake District Calvert Trust. The Investors in Community platform helps to connect organisations and individuals with charities and community groups to demonstrate that by working together, powerful and evidenced social impact can be created. The platform is a growing movement to facilitate the improvement of the lives of people and communities by recognising human social value.
To find out more about The Family Business Network, visit www.fambiznet.co.uk
To find out more about Investors in Community, visit www.investorsincommunity.org
To find out more about the Lake District Calvert Trust and their work, visit www.calvertlakes.org.uk