Mall marvels march up Mount Snowdon for Macmillan

The Mall Blackburn’s security team led a 13 strong group of fundraisers to conquer Mount Snowdon in Wales for Macmillan Cancer Support.
 
Gareth Stead-Clark, Deputy Security Manager at The Mall, organised the trip and was joined by fellow security guards, Ask Me Point staff, Costa Coffee employees as well as one of Blackburn’s Police Community Support Officer and his friends.
 
They battled wind, rain and injury to reach the summit in around four hours before starting their decent, which took the entire journey to around eight hours.
 
First to the top was Soheb Valli, who completed his challenge alone first thing in the morning in order to return to Blackburn for family commitments.
 
The valiant efforts of the fundraisers, who all had differing levels of fitness and experience, means that a whopping £1,500 will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support, which provides invaluable care to people affected by cancer and their families.
 
Designated driver for the 250 mile round trip was Keith Hargreaves, whose wife and daughter took part in the trek.
 
Speaking of the epic journey Gareth, who has worked at The Mall for seven years, said: “I want to thank everyone that took part in or donated to our fundraising mission for Macmillan.
 
“As a team we organise an annual event to raise money for deserving charities and this year we chose Macmillan as everyone has been touched by cancer and its devastating affects at some point in their life.
 
“From total mountain novices to experienced climbers, we all pulled together to make sure everyone reached the summit.
 
“Hats off to Soheb too, he had to complete the journey alone as he had family commitments but didn’t want to let the team down.
 
“Now it is on to planning next year’s challenge….and everyone is buzzing with ideas!”
 
Donations can still be made to the team’s fund by calling Victoria Mawdsley on 01254 54455 or emailing [email protected].