Three Peaks Challenge conquered

Supporter Benjamin has raised over £2,000 for our charity after he took on the 24-hour National Three Peaks Challenge earlier this month conquering Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon all in 23 hours and 53 minutes. 

Transportation time between the three countries’ largest mountains are included in the 24-hour time restriction making the challenge exceptionally tough but Benjamin, 37, and from Essex, was doing this as a tribute to his grandpa, who had been supported by our charity, so was not going to be defeated. 

Benjamin's grandpa

We supported Benjamin’s grandpa, Sydney, after he lost his sight. Benjamin says:

“I want to raise as much money as possible for Blind Veterans UK in tribute to my dear and beloved grandpa. He was an all-round amazing man loved by his friends and family and will always be remembered.”

In 1952, at the age of 18, Benjamin’s grandpa was called up for National Service and joined the Army, serving in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Sydney was discharged after two years with the rank of Private.
 
He lost his sight later in life due to adult vitelliform dystrophy in both eyes which caused blurring in his central vision. Benjamin says:

“Grandpa’s vision gradually got worse; he described what he had as blobs in front of his eyes that he struggled to see around. He began to receive support from Blind Veterans UK in 2021, the charity did a lot for him in the years before his passing providing incredible support, assistance and generosity."

Ben continued:

“Grandpa was always very grateful for the telephone conversations, and in person meet ups, he would have with staff from the charity, especially his Community Support Worker Martha, these were an opportunity for him to talk about his Army days.”

Completing the challenge

Having completed the challenge and raised £2,331 so far for our charity, Benjamin says:

“With one mountain to go, I knew we were going to be cutting it fine to complete the challenge within 24 hours. I had to run the final stretch to the finish line and made it by the skin of my teeth with just seven minutes to spare.
 
“I want to thank everyone who has donated so generously and helped me to not only honour my grandpa, but to also support many more blind veterans like him. It means so much to me to have completed this challenge. My background is in weight training and natural bodybuilding but this was a relentlessly brutal challenge that tested the limits of my physical and mental capabilities!”

There is still time to support Benjamin and to help him raise even more money: