In 2015 Jo Tyler, 42 year old mother of twins, a boy and a girl, committed to take on the 3 Peaks Challenge with the aim of raising £500 for the Diamond Jubilee Appeal.
At the end of June Jo and 4 friends climbed the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales - Ben Nevis (in 4 hours and 10 minutes), Scafell (in 2 hours and 55 minutes) and Snowdon (in 4 hours and 15 minutes – having started at midnight!). They completed the overall challenge in 22 hours and 50 minutes – well inside the 24 hour target. Jo has now collected in all the sponsorship money she was promised and was delighted to have achieved 3 times her target by raising £1,580, including Gift Aid! What a result! Two weeks later Jo ran in the Rugby Half Marathon – What a girl!
Jo said “It was really scary when we got to the top of Snowdon in the dark and driving rain. We were kept going by thinking of the charity and all the people who had sponsored us to take on the challenge. I would like to thank all the people who helped us along the way – notably Paul Murray, who drove approx 1200 miles for the round trip, Townsend Vehicle Hire, the staff and clients at Salon 45, all our other sponsors and my husband Matt who had taken on the challenge before and planned our training and routes up and down the mountains and kept the motivation going throughout.”
Willy Goldschmidt, Vice-Chair of the Friends of St Cross, said “Jo’s enthusiasm for taking on the challenge and supporting the Appeal has been thoroughly infectious and it is down to this that she not only achieved the 3 Peaks Challenge but also smashed her fundraising target. We are so grateful to Jo and her friends for their support and wish her well in whatever challenge she decides to take on next!”