Wokingham duo conquer mountains for Parkinson’s
A WOKINGHAM woman has made a mountainous effort to raise money for charity.
Jacquie Gee completed the Three Peaks Challenge last month as part of her family’s year-long fundraiser for Parkinson’s UK.
The Gee family, which includes Jacquie, her husband Ben, and their 10-year-old son Austin, has been completing challenges throughout 2021 after Ben was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at the age of 41.
On Saturday, September 4, Jacquie and her friend Natalie Highley climbed Mount Snowdon in Wales, Scafell Pike in England, and Ben Nevis in Scotland in just under 23 hours to raise vital funds.
Jacquie says she and Natalie “crushed it” by completing the hikes in under 24 hours.
“Three Peaks has been an epic challenge for [us],” she says.
“We are both personal trainers and we trained really hard for this.
“It’s not until you are climbing those mountains that you realise how tough a challenge it is, not just physically but mentally.
“It really did push us to our maximum [and] I’m so proud of what we achieved.”
Jacquie and Natalie raised more than £2,150 for Parkinson’s UK,
taking the family’s total donation to £5,800 so far.
Kay Slade, regional fundraiser for the South East’s Parkinson’s
UK, added: “We are incredibly grateful to the Gee family and
Hat and Home for their ongoing support.
“With more than 40 potential symptoms, Parkinson’s can devastate lives [and] while we’ve made huge breakthroughs in the last 50 years, there is still no cure, and current treatments are not good enough.
“Our incredible fundraisers help us drive forward the groundbreaking research we need to transform the lives of people affected by the condition.”
Earlier this year, Austin played football for five hours and raised £280 for the charity, and Ben is running the Virgin Money London Marathon this weekend.
Ben is also the owner of Wokingham estate agency Hat and Home, which has chosen Parkinson’s UK as it’s charity of the year.
In total, the family hope to raise £10,000.
To find out more, visit: www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ jacqsandnatsdothethreepeaks