In a bid to raise as much money as possible to support families who need it most, a group of intrepid explorers will be taking on Mount Everest.

Reuben’s Retreat carry out vital work in supporting suffering families. Founded out of the loss of a little boy Reuben, the charity work with families of complexly poor children and families who have lost a child.

After months spent in lockdown over the past two years, fundraising efforts have been paused or lessened and now a group of dedicated trekkers will be looking to increase funds as they scale Everest.

In order to boost the cause and shed a light on the charity, Reuben’s mum Nicola and dad Mike appeared on ITV’s 1% Club, a show that aims to single out some of the brightest minds in the country.

They were unable to beat the majority and came away without any money, but supporter Vicki later appeared on the show, making it to the last few and ultimately winning a respectable sum of money.

During her final interview, Vicki said the money would be going towards Reuben’s Retreat, specifically their Everest Trek.

Having this recognition on national television was amazing, says Senior Fundraiser Stacey Kirkpatrick.

“After that we had people looking us up online to find out who we were. Of course, this is great for donations but also amazing for people who might need us.

“It’s great awareness and someone who needs our help may have picked up on that. We were so thankful that Reuben’s mention was kept in the final edit,” she said.

Now, the team will prepare for a momentous challenge, reaching the dizzy heights of Everest. This event has been a long time in the making, originally organised for 2020 before being pushed back to 2023 away from pandemic complications.

With huge commitment to the cause, 28 people have decided to scale Everest, with six supporters having already completed the challenge.  

The remaining 22 will prepare and tackle the climb in April 2023, putting in hours of training to ensure they can complete it.

Stacey, who will be among the group travelling to Everest, says that slow walking is a good way to prepare.

“Your longest days are eight or nine hours of walking so it’s long but of course quite slow. The incline is quite gradual.

“The biggest thing that you can’t prepare for sadly is the altitude sickness, you just don’t know how your body will react and there’s no training for that.

“Drinking lots of water before you go for a few months is important too as you need to train yourself to drink lots of water every day when you get there.”

When they first announced the challenge, they expected to get around 10 people interested in joining them on the adventure, however floods of people expressed their interest, and they were blown away.

The second group that will head out in 2023 are in a slightly better position than the six who headed out previously, as they have returned and shared their tips.

“We had a sneak preview which was great but also showed us how unprepared we were. The group loved it, but they said it was really tough.

“They noticed they didn’t find many effects until they were really high up on day seven or eight. It’s a 15-day trek in total so you’ve got to hang in there.

“They also spoke about access to toilets and showers so we’re not looking forward to that aspect as much!”

However, the group did feel extremely proud after completing the trek, a feeling that Stacey and fellow climbers can’t wait to enjoy.

Stacey is incredibly excited to fulfil this bucket list challenge and ultimately support Reuben’s Retreat at the same time. The charity relies mostly on public fundraising and say they ‘could not do anything without everybody behind’ them.

Climbing Everest is an extreme fundraiser, but anyone can support the charity. Whether you jog a 5k, hold a raffle or launch a bake sale, every piece of help goes a long way.

Reuben’s Retreat continue to provide ground-breaking support to suffering families and have a whole host of facilities to provide the best tailored care.

You can support the team in their Everest challenge here.

You can also stay up to date with Reuben’s through their social media pages.

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