What a charity abseil weekend. I was running one charity abseil on Saturday off the church in Chipping Sodbury and another charity abseil off the collage building in Bracknell on the Sunday. Check out the video:
The abseil events ran so smoothly and my team helped to raise over £12,000 for charity which is a fantastic amount from a charity abseil weekend. No one refused to go down the abseil which keeps my 100% record going over the past 5 years and that’s not because i force people down the abseil, it’s through understanding and coaching that allows them to except the challenge and give it their all.
The rigging for the abseil on Saturday was complex and involved a 6 point anchor system and a ladder on the other side of the wall that people could set down onto. The oldest person to abseil on Saturday was 80 years old and goes to show us all that there is always time to do great things and have adventures – something i am big fan of. Get off your arse and go and do something amazing, not tomorrow but now.
The photo above shows the oldest member of the team loving it!! He was the first from the group to go and he had never done anything like this before in his life and the result……..
Simply amazing. The weather over the weekend was superb and the sun and smiles came through together. The Saturday event was run in conjunction with Chipping Sodbury festival and what a spread of sandwiches and homemade cakes it was, everyone was so friendly and i recommend you go and check it out, we also now have a huge cake store at our house so if anyone is in need of a slice please raise your hand!!
The hardest thing about the church abseil was getting to the top of the tower in which you climbed 150 very steep steps that spiraled upwards. When walking down them you got very dizzy so i am not surprised that everyone opted for the abseil rather then walking down those stairs again. Carry all the kit to the top of them at the start of the day was a mission but a mission well worth it considering how much money was raised for a good charity – Save the Children
After packing up from one charity abseil and then on to the next, i had to set the alarm clock for 4:30am the next day to make sure we were ready to go for a 9:15am start at the collage building in Bracknell for round two. Both days had sold out and all the places had been filed. I work off 1 hour slots for 7 or 8 people per slot and people turn up 45 minutes before their slot to get kitted up and have a practice abseil which makes the day run smoothly and they get to meet more of my fantastic team and have a laugh in the build up to the big descent.
The building on the second day was very different as the top of the building was closed in by a 3 meter wall so the participants had to climb a ladder to get onto the edge and then feeling the full exposure hit them.
This didn’t stop the participants though as everyone did the abseil and we got a few cheeky shots as people abseiled past the windows of the building and gave a wave for the cameras.
Laughs were had by all and the feedback has been superb. I love running these charity abseil events and passing on my enthusiasm and encouraging people throughout the day – it really pays off.
