Fundraisers who took on City Hospice’s Iron Fan challenge have raised over £7,000.
36 participants hiked up the Welsh mountain Pen y Fan for the challenge. Most of the participants faced the endurance challenge of hiking up to 16 miles on 12 October, while seven took on the challenge in their own time after the original event date in September was postponed due to a weather warning for wind.
Pen y Fan was chosen for the challenge as south Wales’ most iconic mountain, with the view from the summit stretching across south and mid Wales, and even into south-west England. The charity created Iron Fan to raise funds to support their home-based specialist palliative care and range of services for its patients and families, but also to inspire community spirit and encourage people to embrace walking as a way to boost their physical and mental wellbeing.
Walking up and down the mountain not once, but four times in a day was chosen to transform the event from a relatively simple trek into a true challenge, testing endurance, resilience and determination. However, younger participants were also invited to join a family friendly version of the hike, known as ‘The Family Challenge’ so that they could conquer Pen y Fan once.
A team from Turner & Townsend Wales and South West – Simon, Gareth, Billy, Sonny and Eva – completed all four climbs, raising £1,281 for City Hospice. The charity’s business ambassadors also embraced the challenge with Nigel Walker completing The Family Challenge, Effective Communication’s Alastair Milburn completing all four climbs and raising £1,700, and Rogers Jones Auctioneers’ Ben Roger Jones raising £1,326 for his efforts.
The challenge was catered by Pikkle, founded by Hamish Watkins and Louis Phillips, who served tea, coffee and pastries to participants and volunteers at the summit. Wearing pickle costumes, their team brought laughter along with delicious drinks and food to raise the spirits of participants.
Nicky Piper MBE, Corporate Partnerships Manager at City Hospice, said: “We are incredibly thankful for every amazing participant who has helped raise £7,196 for City Hospice through this absolutely epic challenge.
“As a local Cardiff charity, Pen y Fan is a shared symbol of Welsh spirit that connects us with the community of south Wales and was the ideal location for our Iron Fan challenge. Walking in the fresh air is a great way to strengthen our connection to the community with businesses and families and everyone came together to walk with purpose for the charity.
“We would like to thank everyone who took part in, supported and enjoyed our Iron Fan Challenge. We are especially grateful to the team from Pikkle who made every effort to keep participants hiking happily.”
