EveRRest 2022 - The quest for Base Camp!

First off, thank you so much to everyone who supported our prize draw either by donating prizes or buying tickets. We raised over £400 from it so thank you again especially to our prize donors: Anthony Collins Solicitors Jewson Builders Merchants Real Axe Bolton Stannah Stairlifts Studio 82  in Radcliffe Chrome Beauty & Skincare MoonGazy Holistics Zumba Astley Nice Work Run Ruth Bridges Jewellery   Grumpy Old Surfer Vicki's friends Helen Harrell and Baz Massey Last Thursday I got the chance to see what a difference the money so far is making to Reuben's Retreat with a tour round with the effervescent Becca. It really brought it home to me just what valuable work the charity carry out and the passion the team have for making a difference is overwhelming. From its beginnings in Nic's (Reuben's mummy) spare room, they now have a site on an old hospital once famous for being the place where L. S. Lowry saw out his final days. The Lodge is the completed part of the devel...

Hi everyone. We should have been setting off on our trip next week but we have some great news to share. Our wonderful travel agency over at Intrepid Travel have rearranged our trip for April next year so on April 7th we will be flying to Kathmandu to start the trek to Everest Base Camp on April 8th. We are excited to have the new date and also to announce our exciting Big Easter Prize Draw!  Thanks to the generosity of Bolton at Home's partners, local businesses and our friends we have many great prizes for our prize draw and all the money raised will go straight to Reuben's Retreat. Check out their websites as well to see what they offer.  £100 Love2Shop vouchers from Anthony Collins Solicitors Google Nest Mini (5 of them) from Jewson Builders Merchants Axe Throwing for 4 people from Real Axe Bolton £25 voucher for M&S (4 of them) from Stannah Stairlifts Vouchers for hairdressing from Studio 82 in Radcliffe £15 skincare voucher from Chrome Beauty & Skincare Voucher ...

Ho ho ho! We hope you have all had some benefit from the festive season. For everyone, 2020 has been a year of change. For some it has been dramatic and upsetting and for others it has brought disappointments and perhaps opportunities. We have a couple of updates to share as we take some time out from work to recharge our batteries and spend some time at home. Some more time at home that is.  First piece of news is really positive. Our Virgin Money Giving total currently stands at a huge £1,420! That's 30% of our overall target and we are so very grateful for every pledge of help. We have a couple of hundred pounds pledged as well that we are just figuring how to get on to the page so we are well on our way. We've had a big jump in sponsorship thanks largely to our corporate partners. Edward has reached out to them to let them know about our challenge and we have had a hugely positive response. A big thank you to: Mike Roche at Savilles Forbes Solicitors PJ Services, Bolton Ven...

Hi, Vicki here. Things have been pretty busy at work and also just with this whole global pandemic going on there is a lot of uncertainty so I wanted to give a little update on where we are up to.  I'm continuing with my marathon training despite a couple of hiccups, like it being cancelled and having a bit of a dodgy knee but I found another one to do and having some top notch advice on fixing my knee so hopefully I can still complete a marathon this year. Edward and I both live in Tier 3 areas of the UK so my plans to get some hikes in are going to be a little limited for a while and this could also scupper my marathon plans so I am turning my energies to the other, more important preparations for this trip and the reason we are doing it - raising a whole load of money for Reuben's Retreat.   Having joined the group later on than most I am quite a way behind the other fundraisers so time to have a think about how I can get support for this great charity. I'm hatching p...

Just has a catch up with Vicki going through the 3 documents supplied by Intrepid Travel for our trip and there's suddenly lots of practical things we need to be doing Trying to raise £4,600 in the current environment is going to be as big as challenge as the trek itself. Vicki already motoring on with this and lots of ideas. I'm going to link my preparations to the Winter Health Campaign which Bolton at Home are running More mundane things like arranging special insurance for trekking above 3,000m which also includes helicopter evacuation and covers us for Covid-19! Sorting out visas and equipment for the trip Time to make a start...

In March 2021, we (Edward and Vicki) will be representing Bolton at Home on the EveRRest 2021 trek to Base Camp with Reuben's Retreat. Before we get there we need to raise a lot of money for this incredible charity and prepare ourselves for sleeping in sub-zero temperatures, walking 6-8 hours a day and get used to not showering. This blog will chart our preparations, our fundraising and the journey itself. The fundraising page is here:   https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/BHEveRRestBaseCampTrek . We are supporting Reuben's Retreat, a charity born out of the loss of a beautiful boy, Reuben Michael Graham in 2012 who passed away at just 23 months old. They support families who have lost a child and those who face an uncertain future due to their child living with a life threatening or life limiting condition. They are currently renovating their forever home in stages to create a holiday home from home for families to visit together and make precious memories with their children. Ev...

Our quest is officially on. Earlier this month, I (Vicki) put my name in the hat to accompany Edward as our team from Bolton at Home on this amazing adventure to trek the 135km at altitude to Everest Base Camp. My heart was beating fast with excitement and nerves, mostly the latter as I tuned in to watch our Chief Executive select the person by the good old fashioned way of pulling names out of a hat. Hearing him say my name happened in slow motion and I sat there for a moment stunned before shouting to my husband to come downstairs and see what had happened. I was gobsmacked. What an opportunity to go and do something very much outside my comfort zone for this great charity but what a lot of challenges and obstacles to overcome first. I'm reasonably fit as I have been running quite a lot during lockdown in the absence of my usual hobbies. I've travelled quite a bit, so culture shock and the journey should be not too bad. I'm quite an aviation geek so the flight into Lukla,...