Three children, Amelia (10), Archie (9) and Aggie (7) Campbell, were given a special welcome by staff at Bath Abbey on Saturday morning, as part of a special fundraising challenge.
Photo courtesy of Alan Morley
The Campbell family climbed the 212 steps to the top of the Abbey’s Tower as part of their ‘Cathedral Challenge 2015’, walking from Bristol Cathedral to Gloucester Cathedral via Bath Abbey, covering a distance of over 70 miles in 5 and half days to raise money for Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.
They will also be climbing the towers at each of these three churches totalling approximately 8,500 feet (2600m – over twice the height of Ben Nevis) and will each take over 220,000 steps.
The Revd Jon Hoffman of Bath Abbey said: “What the three children, Amelia, Archie and Aggie, are doing is simply amazing.
“They’ve already raised nearly £8,000 for Cancer Research UK and British Heart Foundation, which is a fantastic amount, and we’re pleased to be able to add our own contribution to the total. “
The three of them decided to do the walk to raise money for the people and organisations that helped their Grand-Parents (Ga and Pop-Pop) through recent illnesses.
“Their Grandmother (Ga) was diagnosed with a terminal form of Breast Cancer a year ago, while their Grandfather (Pop-Pop) suffered a nearly fatal heart attack 18 months ago.
Since starting to organise the walk their Pop-Pop suffered another heart attack whilst on holiday and on the 8th April he very sadly died.
Amelia said: “We miss Pop-Pop lots, and wish he was here to help us along the way. But we know he was proud of us for what we are doing and we want to make both him and Ga even prouder.”
Archie explained that “they wanted to say ‘thank you’ to the doctors and nurses who have helped to look after our grand-parents, and also to all the people who are working on making new drugs to fight Ga’s cancer and who helped to keep Pop-Pop’s heart healthy.”
In addition, the three of them have being doing lots of training walks, as they will need to cover 13 miles a day during the Challenge, but are “excited about the walk but also a little bit nervous” said Aggie, adding “but we have Mummy and Daddy to carry everything for us and tell us where to go”.
They are aiming to raise as much as possible for Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation.
If you would like to support them, go to www.justgiving.com/teams/CathedralChallenge2015.
Cancer Research UK pioneers research into over 200 cancers, to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.
The generosity of its supporters has enabled the charity to lead the world in discovering and developing newer, kinder treatments and get closer to cures.
Cancer Research UK has been at the centre of the progress that has already seen survival rates in the UK double in the last forty years.
At the same time, Coronary heart disease is the UK’s single biggest killer, claiming around 73,000 lives a year – that’s an average of 200 lives every day.
Money raised from events such as this are currently helping to support over 1,000 research projects into heart disease around the UK. Progress is being made but there are still millions of adults and children who need help.
Tristam Jones, Head of Events at the BHF said: “Thanks to Amelia, Archie and Aggie for taking on this challenge and supporting the BHF.
“Without our supporters we cannot continue to fund life-saving research into heart disease and provide those affected with the care and support they need.”
