Liam scales 120 mountains in just 11 months
AN adventurer from Hinckley has raised around £5,000 for charity by scaling 120 mountains in Britain and Ireland in just 11 months.
Liam Chase, 27, took on the challenge while working full time as a design engineer, raising funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Alzheimer’s Society.
The epic journey saw Liam climb the equivalent of Mount Everest 12 times walk the equivalent length of Britain twice.
His adventure began with Cross Fell in Cumbria on New Year’s Day 2019 and he finished the challenge by climbing the final peak of Pen y Fan in Wales.
“The challenge has been relentless. For the past six months, I’ve spent nearly every weekend travelling up to Scotland and then racing back for work on a Monday morning”, he said.
“I’ve faced all sorts of weather too, including wind, snow and rain – when I travelled to Ireland, I was in the middle of Storm Hannah which provided some really testing conditions.
“But, if I could do it all again,
I would. It’s been great and some of the views have been spectacular.
“I took on this challenge because I wanted to really test myself.
“Knowing that the money I raise is going to two causes so close to my heart, and helping to fund life saving research, is an amazing feeling.”
Liam was inspired to take on the challenge in aid of the BHF after his grandfather, Ron Chase, died following a heart attack.
Ron and Liam’s three other grandparents had also volunteered for the BHF, supporting the charity for over 50 years combined between them.
He was also inspired to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society as his grandmother, Peggy Chase, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
There are around 12,500 people in Hinckley and Bosworth living with heart and circulatory diseases, with these conditions claiming around 270 lives in the borough each year.
Hannah Pennock, the BHF’s fundraising manager for Leicestershire, said: “We are amazed at the amount of money Liam has raised towards our life saving research.
“Without the generosity of people like Liam, we wouldn’t be able to fund the ground breaking work we do to find preventions, treatments and cures for heart and circulatory diseases, the world’s biggest killers.
“We urgently need more people to help fundraise for the BHF. That’s why we’re calling on the people of Leicestershire to organise their own fundraising event, to help us in our aim to beat heartbreak experienced by families like Liam’s, forever.”