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Peaks and troughs: the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge!

They headed out at 7am on a wet Friday morning, with weather warnings anticipating torrential rain and raging winds.

On Friday 16 August Contact staff, Board Members and Participants set out to tackle the Yorkshire Three Peaks alongside team members from Civic Engineers and Mace, the project managers on our Making Contact Building Project.

Wez, Ceri, Caroline, Jane, Bill, Josh and Sam have all been with Contact throughout the building transformation and, as a result, a little walk didn’t phase them. By little we mean 24.5 miles, climbing the Yorkshire three peaks, Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough; a combined 7064 feet. That’s almost a quarter the height of Everest!

Throughout the day they endured waterlogged boots, soggy flat caps and lost Jane; see the 3 Peaks Highlight on our Instagram to explain that one!

The challenge was to complete the hike in 12 hours. Despite the difficult conditions, the Contact crew managed to storm the route in 10 hours and 33 minutes; a whopping 1 hour and 27 minutes ahead of time.

Through peaks and troughs, the Contact troopers kept spirits high, exchanging snacks, banter and smiles throughout. The legends and fables will say the Contact climbers wouldn’t have made it without the overwhelming support from their sponsors. So far donations total £6,483.84  and this will be matched up to £5,000 by the Mace Foundation. This makes for a smashing total of £11,483.84.

Huge thanks to Mace and Civic Engineers who braved the cold with us and supported our fundraising efforts.

It’s not too late to donate…

Contact is in the midst of an exciting and much-needed capital building project to extend and improve its home. Recent years have seen a steady increase in audience numbers and the demand for their free year-round programme of creative learning activities – fast outstripping the building’s capacity.

With your support Contact will re-open in 2020 with new performance spaces; a recording studio for young people’s music projects; an arts and health development space and a new café/bar –a home for the next generation of audiences, artists and creative leaders.

Read some of the ways Contact has influenced many Manchester household names below:

    ‘I have a lot of love and respect for Contact, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without their support’.

    Haiesha Mistry, Actor

      ‘Contact was my lifeline when I was a kid just out of care. It raised me, gave me my first break as a writer and performer’.

      Louise Wallwein MBE, Poet and Playwright

        ‘I know more lives that have been transformed because of Contact than I can count. Some of the most prolific and creative artists I’ve met started out at Contact. I am delighted to support this new era in Contact’s life, bringing that wonderful building bang up to date for the next generation’.

        Julie Hesmondhalgh, Actor

          ‘What really sets Level Up (one of Contact’s music projects) apart, is how substantially they facilitate your undiscovered potential as an artist, to truly become the best version of you’.

          Shaquille Rays, Young Singer/Songwriter

            ‘I was a 14-year-old black boy from Moss Side and it was the first time I’d stepped foot in a theatre. Six years later I was on the Board!’

            Reece Williams, Poet, Producer and Contact Board Member

            There’s still time to donate so click here to support!