Barclays ‘Climb Everest’ event raises over £8,000

A team of 11 colleagues from Barclays has raised over £8,000 (£8,388.75) for Friends of the Cancer Centre by running up Stormont hill in East Belfast recently a grueling 181 times.  They completed the challenge, which in terms of distance is equivalent to the vertical ascent required to conquer Mount Everest from sea level, 8,848 metres, in just less than 6 hours.

Colleen Shaw, Chief Executive of Friends of the Cancer Centre, thanked the team and explained the importance of fundraising:

“We would like to say a huge thank you to the team of colleagues from Barclays for their support. They put themselves through something that is very physically demanding to help others. The ‘Climb Everest Challenge’ was undoubtedly a tough experience and every ascent of the hill has assisted in raising money to further the work we do to support cancer patients locally.

“Our work focuses on three key areas – clinical care, patient comfort and care, and research – which all directly impact on patients and staff in the hospital.  From funding 28 additional doctors, nurses and researchers, to providing thousands of cups of tea and coffee for patients throughout the hospital, everything we do makes a big difference to thousands of patients.  All of this would not be possible without the support of people like the team from Barclays.”

Paul Davies, Cash Management Specialist, Barclays added: “We were keen to create an innovative way to raise funds for Friends of the Cancer Centre.  Climbing Everest must be one of the hardest physical challenges to undertake so we thought why not in some way try to replicate it. The hill at Stormont is synonymous for its steepness and as a prominent local landmark it seemed to be the perfect location.

“On behalf of all the team I would like to say a massive thank-you to all those who supported us and made a donation.”