A group of students at Llandarcy Academy of Sport (part of NPTC Group of Colleges) have come up with a new endurance challenge to raise much-needed funds for a local mental health charity.
The BTEC Level 2 Sports Coaching students were tasked with organising an event as part of their coursework and decided to use their sporting talent to good effect, flipping the Sea to Summit challenge on its head and organising a Summit to Sea challenge to raise funds for Hwb@TheYnys, a mental health charity based in Port Talbot.
The students will take part in the challenge this month, which will see them scaling Pen y Fan, the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, and then cycling from there to the sea front at Aberavon Beach, Port Talbot – a distance of over 30 miles, all in under 12 hours!
The students chose local charity Hwb@TheYnys in Port Talbot to focus their fundraising efforts on. It has been set up to provide a safe space for members of the community to share their struggles. The Hwb can also be used for local projects or groups and the team there deliver Mental Health Awareness talks to sports clubs across different age groups, aiming to break down barriers and stigmas.
Martyn Wagstaff from the Hwb@TheYnys said:
“We are delighted to be chosen by the students for the fundraising project. The money raised will help towards continuing to provide a safe space and also deliver Mental Health Awareness sessions for many groups across our community. Huge thanks to all involved from everybody at the Hwb”.
Sport Lecturer Helen Jones, who is overseeing the challenge, has been inspired by what she has seen: “The students have been fantastic and have been working really hard over the past couple of months training for this event. There will be two groups completing the challenge. One on June 6th and the second group on June 13th. The students have selected a charity which they felt was very important to them. They have set up a gofundme page and any donations will be gratefully received. We hope to raise as much money as possible for this important and relevant cause. We are all really looking forward to completing this challenge in the next couple of weeks”.
If you would like to make a donation, please visit: https://gofundme.com/f/summit-to-sea-2023
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