(left to right): Nicola Choon, Gloria Lee and Shawn YipIn April 2015 twenty students from different universities in UK signed up for one of the biggest challenges of their lives. They aimed to climb the three highest peaks in UK in 36 hours, Ben Nevis in Scotland (1344m), Snowdon in Wales (1085m) and Scafell in England (978m).
This adventurous fundraiser named UKEClimb for Kids (click here for a YouTube video), was organised by Gloria Lee and Nicola Choon, executives of UKEC, the United Kingdom and Eire Council of Malaysian students.
The successful challenge covered 42 kilometres in wintry conditions.
In May 2015 ACT found out that it would receive a total of £5000, raised by the students, to be paid over two years.
This very welcome news means that ACT can continue to support its projects for a few more years.
In June and July Gloria and Shawn(another executive of UKEC) visited Tanzania on a teaching programme in a local school. They visited ACT’s projects and enjoyed an enthusiastic welcome from the children and their teachers.
Here are some questions and answers about the challenge:
Which peak did you find the toughest?
Ben Nevis, most definitely! We arrived at the tail end of winter and stepped into 3 feet of snow at one point!
How was the weather?
It got progressively better. Ben Nevis wasn’t favourable but the others were fine.
What was the biggest challenge?
Tien Eu Min from University College, London said: None really. Can’t wait to attempt other mountains in Europe! William Chu, also from UCL said:I’d gladly do it all over again! For Nicola Choon, the most memorable part of the climb was touching the stone on Snowdon’s peak at sunset and descending by moonlight. In her own words: To think the experience had a function beyond that, to raise funds for a great cause miles and miles away, was even better.
Gloria Lee, the head executive of UKEC said: It was definitely challenging leading a group of 20 students up snowy mountains in bad weather conditions. To be able to use this challenge as a platform to raise funds is a true blessing. The camaraderie that we built over 36 hours still lasts till today.
ACT congratulates these brave students who are obviously used to more pleasant climes for their adventurous and generous spirits.