On 19th May 2018, a big event took place. No, I’m not talking about the Royal Wedding… Or the FA Cup Final… I mean the day 21 brave people abseiled 160 ft down Guildford Cathedral in aid of Sight for Surrey, raising over £5,000!
Amongst these were four visio
n impaired teenagers who partake in Sight for Surrey’s Young People’s Inclusion Programme. This task sounds daunting enough for most of us, but think about doing it when your vision is limited, you can only see blurred images, you struggle with changes in lighting levels or you have no sight at all and rely on your other senses to help you walk up those stairs and abseil down. All of the teenagers (and their teen youth worker, Carol) were extremely brave and conquered the climb and jum
p fearlessly.
“I loved every second of it, even though the first bit hanging over the edge was terrifying. I just wanted to do it again!”
Also taking part were two pupils from Chertsey High School, who have fundraised for us this year, as well as several teachers from local schools which have specialist Vision Impairment units. We are so grateful for these supporters in the local community!
“The whole th
ing was so much fun. The climb up was pretty tiring, but there were beautiful views at the top of the tower. It was an amazing feeling abseiling down the tower, and having everyone below cheering for me. I honestly never thought I would do anything like this, and it made me feel as though I can take on the world!”
We invited two students from local Sixth Form Colleges, Olivia and Louaira, to photograph the day. They did a great job producing lots of lovely photographs, and we hope to work with them again in the future.
To top it all off, we had a visit from Councillor Mike Parsons, Mayor of Guildford. Mr & Mrs Mayor posed for photographs with our abseilers, presented certificates, and entered into the spirit of the event wonderfully.
Thank you to all involved in the organisation of the event; Guildford Cathedral, Mile End climbing, our abseilers and of course their wonderful friends and family who donated, spectated and supported!
There is still time to sponsor our abseilers. Please visit bit.ly/guildfordabseil or text ‘JUMP19 £10’ to 70070 to donate £10 to Sight for Surrey.
Gutted you missed out? We have lots of challenge events like it so please get in touch with the fundraising team at fundraising@sightforsurrey.org.uk or 01372 377701.
Photographs by Olivia Thomas & Louaira Dela Cruz.
