Triple Apex as RPS Summits for Hospital

RPS team in National Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

A volunteer RPS team from our Birmingham office recently braved the National Three Peaks Challenge in aid of the Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity (Charity Registration No. 1160875). On 1st July 2017, the team successfully scaled each of the three highest peaks within England, Scotland and Wales in 24 hours:

• Ben Nevis, in Scotland (1345m)
• Scafell Pike, in England (978m)
• Snowdon, in Wales (1085m)

RPS’ Birmingham office in particular has chosen to support the hospital through a number of charity events over the years including a water speed boat day and a short jaunt(!) up Kilimanjaro. The charity provides excellent and inspiring support for the hospital and its patients, and we are proud to be able to support the hospital and its development.

‘Our team set off from Birmingham on the Saturday morning for the 7 ½ hour drive to the Scottish Highlands to begin the challenge at Ben Nevis at 5:00pm’ recounts team leader Anthony Cox ‘The weather at Nevis was initially good but the rain set in and didn’t stop until we began to descend from the summit around 8:00pm. The team arrived at Scafell Pike in England’s picturesque Lake District National Park before sunrise and began scaling the 978m in the dark using head torches. Finally after around 6:30am the team summited in a thick blanket of cloud. The going was tough as it was very rocky and required a lot of scrambling and by this time our calves and knees were starting to feel sore.’

‘The team managed to get back to the foot again in one piece and we climbed back into the minibus to begin the final leg of the Challenge with the journey to Snowdon, where the weather promised to be good. We arrived after a five hour drive and started to ascend Snowdon via the Pyg Track, finally attaining the summit with around three hours to spare giving us some welcome time to enjoy the sunshine and enjoy a well-earned cup of tea! We made our descent via the Miners Track and finished the challenge in 23 hours and 15 minutes: exhausted but triumphant!’

So far the team has raised around £1500.00 for the Children’s Hospital via Anthony’s online fundraising page and cash sponsorship donations. A special thank you to Mikrofill Systems Ltd of Worcestershire who very kindly paid for the minibus hire to ensure we could reach the mountains within the time-limit.

This fund raising effort builds further upon a long standing professional and charitable relationship between RPS and Birmingham Children’s hospital which has most notably included the design of the CIAT Award winning paediatric burns unit providing a new face for the existing hospital with an extended inpatient education facility, replacement neonatal surgery unit and a suite of state-of-the-art burns care facilities. Its landmark exterior is designed to utilise playful ‘elements’ and colours, and maximise a feeling of light to echo its context and engage young patients.