Climbing the Yorkshire Three Peaks, Kenzie’s fundraising story
Last year, Kenzie and her family took on the challenge of climbing the Yorkshire Three Peaks to raise money for Mental Health UK. Kenzie sadly lost her mum to suicide, and was keen to raise awareness around mental health and tackle a challenge to push her own mental strength.
Trigger warning: This article mentions suicidal thoughts
I chose to take part in a fundraising activity with my family to remember my Mum, Sam, who we lost to suicide 20 years ago. We decided to take on the fundraising task of climbing the Yorkshire Three Peaks. It felt like a great way to remember her, and spread awareness about mental health at the same time. We loved the process of fundraising from the very start to end.
– KenzieOur family had never done anything like this before, and it was amazing to be able to experience this together.
We found donations came from a range of places, some of our family members received donations from their employers, and we also spread the word using Facebook & other social media channels which helped too.
Whilst on the walk, we posted updates throughout the day which our followers loved interacting in, making donations, and spurring us on! We also got some T-shirts printed with a QR code which took people to the link of our donation page, meaning people were able to easily sponsor us whilst seeing us out and about walking too.
– KenzieIt has honestly been one of the best things I have done in my life so far and I feel proud of myself for completing it.
After we finished the walk, I felt so proud of my family for coming together to support an amazing charity. I feel like we have turned what can be a really hard time, into something really gratifying, and something we can all be proud of. We pushed from the start to raise awareness about mental health and suicide, and it’s been really nice to see people touched by our story, and hopefully helped people along the way too.
I’d really encourage people to go out and set their own fundraiser up. It is a real achievement once you have done it, and to know you’re making a difference to such an important charity, is an indescribable feeling. I am already thinking about what we can do next, to raise more money. The bigger the better I think!
Check out our latest fundraising treks, including the Yorkshire challenge and Lake District climb. For other ideas and inspiration on fundraising, head to our fundraising page full of tips on how to get started and join #TeamMHUK.
