Dad to climb four peaks to boost North East charity
ADVENTURER LOOKING TO RAISE £50,000 TO HELP CHILDREN
THE co-founder of a men’s healthcare and well-being business is to take on one of the biggest challenges of his life to raise cash for a children’s charity.
Alphagenix boss Ross Tomkins is planning to climb four of the world’s tallest mountains to raise money for Heel & Toe, which is dedicated to supporting children with cerebral palsy and physical disabilities in the region.
He plans to take on the respective four peaks over the next 12 months, aiming to raise £50,000 for the charity.
Both Ross and his wife Joanne are ambassadors for the charity, and they have announced that together they will personally fund his expedition costs to ascend all four mountain summits.
This will mean that 100 per cent of the funds donated and raised for the expedition will go to the Heel & Toe charity.
Ross’s company Alphagenix will also be sponsoring the charity fundraiser, and have pledged £10,000 towards the monetary target, to start the fundraising effort off.
Alphagenix helps educate and treat men on male hormonal health in the North East of England.
The father of two from Ponteland also hopes to encourage other businesses from across the North East to sponsor his fundraising initiative and help raise much-needed funds for a charity that serves the children across the region.
He said: “I am really excited – and a little bit daunted – about the foursummit challenge ahead.
“It’s an important challenge – both physically and mentally – and one that I wanted to undertake knowing that our goal was to support the children at Heel & Toe.
“It’s really important that businesses from across the region help fund and support the work that is being done for our children, something that resonates strongly with me as a father.
“You see children like Lucy Scott, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 22 months.
“She came to Heel & Toe at the age of five and the charity supported her with conductive education and weekly physio sessions for her movement.
“In 2020, aged 12, she ran in the Mini Great North Run to raise money for the charity, now that’s truly incredible and inspiring to us all.”
Ross, who is a qualified physiotherapist, has started his training and preparation for the event with his first mountain challenge in June of this year.
He plans to start his first ascent of Mont Blanc in the French Alps in June, which stands at 15,777 feet and is widely known as the birthplace of modern mountaineering.
In the same month, he will then fly to Argentina and attempt the Aconcagua. which is in the Andes mountain range and peaks at 22,841 feet. Aconcagua is also the highest known mountain in the Americas.
Ross will then travel to Indonesia in March 2023 to tackle the Carstanz Pyramid – a mountain on the island of New Guinea, which has an elevation of 16,024 feet, making it the highest mountain peak on an island on Earth.
His final ascent will be the mountain of Denali in Alaska, which is the highest mountain peak in North America with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet above sea level.
Denali is the third-most prominent and third-most isolated peak on Earth after Mount Everest and Acongagua.
Adventurer Ross is no stranger to the mountains and has previously climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Toubkal in Morocco and Mount Rainier in Washington State, USA.
He added: “Physiotherapy is a vitally important part of the overall therapy and well-being work that is done with disabled children and those with cerebral palsy at Heel & Toe.
“The physiotherapy assists the children with their movement and mobility.
“As a qualified physiotherapist who understands the importance of this work to the charity it was a natural progression for myself and my wife Joanne to support the amazing work and vision of this charity as ambassadors and parents.
“It’s incredibly rewarding when you take on challenges like this to know that every £1 we raise is literally going to change and transform children’s lives.”
The Heel & Toe charity was set up in 2008 by Paul Bannister, whose daughter has cerebral palsy.
It is the only dedicated charity in the region to offer free conductive education to children with cerebral palsy and other physical disabilities.
The charity offers a wide range of services, including assessment and treatment, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, conductive education, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy and holiday clubs. They also receive no Government funding, and rely solely on the generosity of the public and businesses across the North East.