“Sky High”
for Help the Heroes
How the idea of the visit came about
Some time ago a member of the club wondered how the club could be involved in helping wounded service men and women injured in Afghanistan.
During a club visit to Honiston Slate Mine an idea came to him of how the facilities there could be used. He next contacted Phoenix House Recovery Centre at Catterick Garrison and discussed the issue with Help the Heroes.
Needless to say they were very keen on the idea so the owner of the slate mine was then approached and he too was very keen to be involved.
Some time was taken applying to the Big Lottery Fund for a grant to fund the project. The lottery processed the small grant quickly and at the beginning of May we were told we had been successful in our bid.
The first course then took place during May and September 2015 with 18 service and ex-service personnel from Phoenix House. Seven members of the club brought their war time vehicles to the event to ferry the participants to and from the slate mine but also around the mine itself. The event was very successful with the participants finding new skills and overcoming some fears and making new friends.
The Club was fortunate to be one of the winners of the The Peoples Project sponsored by ITV in April 2016. This has resulted in the expansion of the programme to include 2 days of water sports at the Low Wood Bay Water sports Centre on Lake Windermere followed by 2 days at the Honiston Slate Mine and the Via Ferratta this May and a further event in September.
Club would like to thank all those involved and especially the volunteers. A special thanks to the Kewick Photographic Club who supplied some of the pictures featured here and the Honiston Guides who took most of the pictures taken on the Via Ferrata.
2018 We have been very lucky to again be awarded some funding from the Big Lottery to run a small event this year.
