Christchurch Amateur Boxing Club complete Three Peaks Challenge for Autism Unlimited
MEMBERS of CNC Christchurch Amateur Boxing Club have faced one of their toughest bouts, taking on three mountains supporting an autism charity.
The team tackled the infamous Three Peaks Challenge, with five of the eight members raising funds for Christchurch-based Autism Unlimited.
The charity supports autistic children and young people with bespoke education, independent living skills, advice, and guidance.
The Three Peaks involves climbing the highest mountains of Scotland, England, and Wales – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon – one after another within under 24 hours.
The Boxing Club’s head coaches, Joe Hayes and Jon Woods, came up with the idea of supporting autistic people.
“When Joe said he and some of the boys were doing the challenge I said, ‘Why don’t you do it for autism?’” explained Woods. “My son Bobby is autistic, so I know the barriers families like mine can face when looking for support and how charities like Autism Unlimited step in to provide that support.”
Hayes agreed, adding: “As a club, we have also become more aware of Autism Unlimited since it opened its Sixth Form building on Airfield Road, near where we are based in Groveley Road. They do some truly amazing work with their students, and we really wanted to raise some money to support that.”
“Every mountain presented a different set of challenges. As we climbed Ben Nevis, the temperature kept dropping and dropping. We reached the peak to find ourselves in a minus-nine-degree blizzard!
“On the second mountain, Scafell Pike, we were all really feeling it and were trying to keep up with the guide’s pace.
“When we reached the top, he told us we were going to have to “pick things up” on the way down, and that was going to hurt – and he was right!”
The team started the challenge at 6am on Saturday, September 28th, and finished at 5.30am on Sunday, September 29th – 35 minutes before the 24-hour deadline.
Hayes joked: “When we got home it took me 10 minutes just to get out of the car! But when we realised we had raised over £3k – considerably over our £500 target – it made all the pain worthwhile.”
Carol Borwick, fundraising manager at Autism Unlimited, said: “We are in awe of the team’s support for us and the strength and determination they showed to complete such a gruelling challenge.
“Some of our students and staff are now hoping to visit the boxing club and cannot wait to hear more about the team’s amazing adventure.”
The team can still be sponsored at shorturl.at/SeC2z
