"The team at Cowgills have been absolutely fantastic smiling all the way through what was an incredibly hard and physically demanding challenge."
Deborah Sefton, NSPCC fundraising manager
A team of determined Manchester accountants from Cowgill Holloway, ditched their calculators for kayaks to raise money for the NSPCC.
Members of the established North West firm set off on an early adventure to the Lake District to take part in the NSPCC’s annual Lake District Challenge.
The team, which contained members across all departments of the firm, trained for months in order to complete the taxing challenge. Already battling with a tough terrain, the gusty winds and unrelenting rain couldn’t put the team off completing the challenge.
On the day, the accountants split into two teams – with one team opting for the “extreme challenge”. The original challenge comprises 12km of cycling through Grizedale Forrest, 10km trekking up Coniston Old Man and 1.5km kayaking on Coniston Water. The extreme challenge saw an additional 12km on the bike, an extra 2km trek and doubling the distance on Coniston Water to 3km – even leading to one boat momentarily capsizing.
After a tough training regime, both Cowgill Holloway teams completed the course after a gruelling 9 hours and 30 minutes. This challenge saw them raise an incredible £8,560 – against an original target of £5,000.
Stuart Stead, Partner at Cowgill Holloway said: “All of our training and perseverance paid off on the day and I’m proud - both personally and of the team - to have completed the Lake District Challenge 2017. It was great to see everyone so enthuastic on the day although the weather was extremely difficult to exercise in.
“Admittedly, we’re still trying to hit the £10,000 mark and double our initial target.
“Completing the challenge for such a worthy cause did make it easier (slightly) and we look forward to working closely with the NSPCC for more events later in the year.”
Deborah Sefton, NSPCC fundraising manager, said: “The team at Cowgills have been absolutely fantastic – smiling all the way through what was an incredibly hard and physically demanding challenge. I’m glad to hear the wet weather and mud didn’t dampen their spirits.
“We can’t thank them enough for all their hard work both in training and in their exceptional fundraising efforts – to beat their original target by so much is astounding. With their help we will be able to reach even more vulnerable children when they need us the most – in the North West and across the UK.”
