Last weekend, dozens of adventurous fundraisers abseiled down a 100ft wall at Leicester Royal Infirmary for charity.
A total of 80 people from across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland took part in Leicester Hospitals Charity’s ‘BIG Abseil’ event, raising a massive £23,000 so far for the cause.
The BIG Abseil is one of the charity’s extreme events that involve participants abseiling down the 100 ft wall on the Windsor Building at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Participants took part in the challenge last Saturday and Sunday, without any preparation and turned up for their chance to step over the edge in the name of charity.
Elizabeth Cardwell, training facilitator at Leicester’s Hospitals took on the wall on Saturday and said: “Being able to give back to Leicester’s Hospitals is always something I’ve wanted to do, but I thought let’s make it interesting and do something a little challenging, so I signed up for the BIG Abseil.
“It always amazes me the way patients tackle sometimes challenging personal circumstances. When the opportunity came up to help fundraise to support our local hospitals it was something despite my fears I wanted to do.
“Every day I am in awe of how wonderful our patients are and how in particular children approach and deal with life events such as diagnoses and treatment. One little girl called Freya touched my heart and I thought of her among many others as my heart was pounding stepping off the roof.
“It was one of the toughest things I have ever done but with the support of those around me, and the faces of patients in my mind I did it!”
Leading the event was Kamlesh Mistry, Community and Events Fundraising Manager for the charity. “We’re so proud of all the participants, they’ve all done well over the two days. Standing at the top of the building looking down is quite daunting and then taking that first step to come down can be very scary,” he said.
“The support for this event has been overwhelming. All those who took part got to choose which area of the hospital will benefit from the money they’ve raised, and they should be proud of what they’ve achieved. Well done everyone.”
To find out more about Leicester Hospitals Charity, visit: https://www.leicesterhospitalscharity.org.uk/
