Six colleagues from housebuilder Bellway have completed a once-in-a-lifetime adventure through the Himalayas to raise money for the company’s national charity partner Cancer Research UK.
The group took part in a challenging five-day trek across the ancient forests and valleys of northern India. They passed through remote Hindu settlements and isolated Buddhist monasteries while reaching altitudes of almost 3,000 metres.
Kieran James, Antony Ellerton, Jessica Whitby, Lorraine White and Clare Shacklock from Bellway’s Liverpool-based North West division, along with Fergus O’Boyle from the company’s Hamilton-based Scotland West division, were part of a wider group of 34 walkers led by eight guides along the rarely trekked 60-mile route.
The 11-day trip was organised by Cancer Research UK to support its Bowelbabe Fund, a cause started by the late Dame Deborah James to fund clinical trials, research and cancer awareness.
Between them, the Bellway team raised a total of £26,681 for the charity.
A once in a lifetime experience
Assistant quantity surveyor Kieran James, 22, from Liverpool, signed up for the challenge in January last year after an email was circulated among Bellway staff about the trek.
He said: “Three of us who sit together in the office thought it would be a great experience as well as an opportunity to raise money for such a good cause. We were very keen to sign up. I do like walking but I’ve never done anything on this scale.
“The whole trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, from riding on a tuk-tuk through the busy streets of Delhi to the views of the snowcapped mountains and the silence that you could hear while walking through the remote areas. We saw some amazing wildlife, like vultures, and walked past little villages and schools. It was a completely different world and culture.
“We walked for around seven to eight hours a day. On some nights we stayed on campsites and in lodges, where the facilities were quite basic with limited hot water and no heating.
“When we got to the end there was a real sense of achievement. It was quite emotional, especially for those people whose lives have been affected by cancer. As a whole group, the 34 of us raised around £180,000. That’s a huge amount that’s going to have such a massive impact and help save lives.”
Cancer Research UK has been Bellway’s national charity partner since 2016. In that time the company and its employees have raised more than £5 million for the charity through a variety of fundraising events, from charity golf days and bake sales to marathons and long-distance walking and cycling challenges.
