Dunmow store workers go from peak to peak to raise money for neonatal death charity

A team of adventurers have the “buzz to go bigger and better” after completing a tough fundraiser which took them to the highest points of the UK.

Staff from Co-op, in White Street, Great Dunmow, entered the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for the Stillbirth & Neonatal Death charity (Sands).

Andrew Watson, Mike Kemp, Ryan Toms, Jack Kichenbrand and Simon Pulfer pushed themselves to the max to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours. Only Andrew, Ryan and Simon could complete the gruelling challenge.

Andrew, a team manager at the Co-op, said: “It was really painful, I don’t think we expected it to be so hard. We went to Wales a few months before to try hill walking and that was a real wake up call.

“But the sense of achievement after completing the [Three Peaks] challenge was amazing and it has given us the buzz to do more. We are looking to plan something for later in the year – we just have to think about what to do next.”

Each year the store picks a worthy cause to raise money for, and this year staff picked Sands because a colleague lost a baby after birth.

Andrew, 23, added: “Sands is a fantastic charity and it is close to all our hearts. We raise money every year but we normally just do cake sales so we decided we wanted to try something bigger.”

The group was delighted to raise over £1,100. They could not have done the event without the help of fellow colleague Steve Pattenden who drove the team from peak to peak.