Over two weekends in late July and early August, two teams from Your Home Care climbed Snowdon. Not for fun, though there was plenty of that. They did it for Denise.
Denise is one of our home care assistants. She was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer, and the team wanted to do something. Not just a card and some flowers. Something that showed her how much she means to everyone.
So they climbed a mountain.
Team 1: 26 July
The first team set off from the office at 5am. Marian, Kadie, Leanne, Harriett, Jane, Megan and Paul made up the crew. It was raining when they arrived in Wales, but they went anyway.
Jane said the first 500 steps were hard. She undersold it.
Around 30,000 steps, 3,000 feet of climbing, and a full day later, they made it to the top and back down again without using the train. Harriett kept morale high the entire way, arriving with enough supplies to feed a small army.
Team 2: 2 August
The following Saturday, team two took their turn. Harriett went again (of course she did), joined by Les, Leah, Stacie, Ruby, Emma and Aimee.
Another 5am start. Another Tesco pit stop. Another set of legs that were not ready for what was coming.
They made it halfway by mid-morning with legs burning, clouds closing in, and snacks disappearing fast. But spirits stayed high and Denise was in their thoughts every step of the way.
They reached the summit and came back down in one piece. Tired, proud, and a bit emotional.
Why this matters
Nobody asked these people to climb a mountain. They volunteered their weekends, drove to Wales at 5am, and pushed themselves up 3,000 feet because they care about a colleague.
That is not something you can put in a job description. It is just who they are.
If you want to support Denise, get in touch with us. And if you want to work somewhere where colleagues climb mountains for each other, have a look at our current vacancies.