Leigh-on-Sea Striders are proud to have organised numerous charity challenges over the last 20 years and in doing so have raised over £400,000 for some amazing causes. On 12 June, a team of 60 committed people travelled to the Lake District to take on their toughest challenge yet, trekking 100km over four days, including 19,000 feet of ascent, and taking in England’s highest peaks – Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Skiddaw. They did the challenge this year in the lasting memory of dear Strider friend Stephanie Simpson, who tragically lost her life in an accident in New Zealand in 2020. Stephanie had taken part in previous challenges and the team were honoured that her mother, Sally, took part in this one.

The team travelled up on Sunday and, after seven hours on the coach, there was no rest, just a chance to quickly drop bags off and then head straight off to the first peak – Skiddaw. The walk was just under ten miles and also coincided with 50-mile-per-hour winds, which made for a challenging start and rude awakening for the team! On day two the team split into different groups heading to the top of Helvellyn, with some taking on the challenging scramble across Striding Edge – not for the feint hearted, or those afraid of heights! Day three was the longest day of walking and also the day for taking on England’s highest peak, Scarfell Pike. The forth and final day was the flattest, compared to the other days, but still nearly ten miles and not without some tricky parts to navigate, plus an extra bonus trip up Cat Bells, which gave stunning views over the area, all the more beautiful in the sunshine that the team were blessed with to end the challenge. Each day had an early start and long hours of walking, climbing, scrambling or crawling. And each person helped others through the tough parts, either by whiling away the hours talking, or sometimes physically helping each other navigate tricky parts. The group talked about Stephanie and how much she would have loved the challenge.

Events like this don’t just happen and it was down to a lot of hard work, research and several recces up to the Lakes by men’s captain Dean Ovel, Neal Marlow and Niki Read, and a lot of organising and logistics by ladies’ captain Katie Spicer. The team have been inspired to battle through this challenge to raise money for their causes, chosen and voted on by the club members, and have already raised an incredible £60k. This will be split between Southend Hospital oncology and stroke services, and the James Patterson Memorial Fund at CRY. This will fund a heart screening day for 100 people in the Southend area. In 80% of cases of young sudden cardiac death (YSCD) there are no prior symptoms of a heart defect. The frequency of YSCD can be dramatically reduced by making heart screening available to all young people between the ages of 14 and 35.

Chairman of Leigh Striders, Mark Dobson, who has taken part in every challenge the club has organised said, “We were lucky to see the Lake District at its best in all conditions – be it sun, wind, rain, or all three on one of the days! But the best part was the people involved, pushing themselves way outside their physical and emotional comfort zones, helping and encouraging each other. We didn’t just raise a fantastic amount for our charities, but we did it in the lasting memory of our friend and fellow Strider, Stephanie Simpson, whose positivity, enthusiasm and beautiful smile will always be remembered.”