With snow up to five feet deep in parts and a 35mph blustery wind, a fundraising mountain climb to make hospital less daunting for young Walsall patients was certainly no easy feat.

But NHS colleagues Liz Slevin, Corrine O’Callaghan and Sarah Clarke, along with friend Darren Price, managed to reach the summit of Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the British Isles, and hope to have raised £1,000.

The foursome, who did the climb last month, were raising money for the Paediatric Emergency Department (ED) area in Walsall Manor Hospital’s new Urgent and Emergency Care Centre to brighten it up with some fun artwork, wall wraps and musical and interactive equipment. They have been working with Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust’s charity Well Wishers and their JustGiving page is still open for any last minute donations here https://bit.ly/3KDE7mG

Liz, who is ED and Acute Care Transformational Lead Nurse at the Trust, said it had been tough in parts but everyone felt proud of their achievement.

“When we looked back over the day it took us eight hours to climb up and come back down, we did 36,000 steps and used up 4,000 calories. There was a blustery, 35mph wind and closer to the top the snow was four to five feet deep,” she said.

“There were times that we struggled but – as we knew we would – we motivated each other to just keep going. We all enjoy mountain climbing in our spare time and had wanted to climb Ben Nevis for a while so combining it with fundraising seemed a good fit. We hope to have raised £1,000 in total and will close our JustGiving page shortly if anyone wants to make a last-minute donation.”

Georgie Westley, Fundraising Manager, said: “Huge congratulations to Liz and the team for their recent Ben Nevis fundraiser.  I have seen the pictures and it looks amazing – but very strenuous.  All money raised will purchase items for the paediatric ED waiting area to benefit young patients when using our services.”