Kingsclere girl on top of the world after ' Mount Everest' fundraising climb for NHS
11-year-old Sophie Auld has raised more than £1,400 to help tackle coronavirus crisis
AN 11-year old girl from Kingsclere is feeling on top of the world after raising £1,400 for the NHS by climbing the height of Mount Everest.
Sophie Auld has been climbing up and down her stairs at home for hours a day since starting her lockdown challenge on April 15.
And last week she successfully reached the top of the ‘mountain’ by reaching 8,848 metres (3,093 flights of stairs or 40,209 steps).
She climbed between two and three hours every day, with just two rest days.
The youngster said: “Climbing the stairs between 200 and 300 times a day can get boring, so my mum would read me messages people had left on her Facebook page, my brother would chase me up the stairs and I made up games or played music to pass the time.”
Sophie completed the monumental challenge in front of family and friends, who had ‘Zoomed in’ on a video call to see the final part of the ascent.
She said: “The messages of support and calls from family and friends have really helped me to keep on climbing – even when my legs really ached and the stairs got really boring.
“I kept repeating Winston Churchill’s quote ‘success is not final, failure is not fatal, it’s the courage to continue that counts’ the whole way.
“This is a quote from Winston Churchill that I saw whilst watching the movie The Darkest Hour with my dad.”
Having originally set out to raise £100 for the charity NHS Charities Together, Sophie was astounded as she watched her JustGiving total creep up to £1,400, thanks to the generosity of friends, family and Newbury Weekly News readers.
NHS Charities Together sends funds to the NHS hospitals where it’s needed, right across England.
Some of its projects include providing essential technology to keep patients in touch with families, providing respite opportunities and spaces for over-worked NHS staff and food and drink essentials for staff unable to get food while working and more.
Since completing her ascent, Sophie has received special congratulations live on radio by Seven Summiteer Nick Hollis, who has climbed the highest mountains of each of the seven continents.
She’s now making the most of having some time off from climbing before planning a visit to Snowdonia, once lockdown is lifted.
You can still donate to Sophie’s JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sophie-mountstairs2020
