“Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain” – Edmund Hillary
My challenges are nothing compared to those faced by the children at the Snehalaya Children’s Home in India, which is one of the charities supported by My Home Move’s employees through our Charitable Trust. The children in the home were born with Cerebral Palsy; however, their strength of character and determination is awe-inspiring.
With this in mind, a couple of weeks ago we took on one of the toughest challenges we’ve ever faced.
I and my colleagues Mark Montgomery (Customer Strategy and Marketing Director), Rob Gurney (Head of Legal Practice) and Sam Crooks (Business Development Manager) completed the Ben Nevis Challenge to raise money for 3 UK homeless charities and Snehalaya, all charities the MHM Charitable Trust supports.
While the rest of the UK baked in 30-degree heat, we trekked 17 miles from Fort William up to Ben Nevis and back (the equivalent of climbing up 600 flights of stairs), rode 25 miles by bike up hills with a staggering 20% gradient and canoed down Loch Lochy.
As you can imagine, the challenge took its toll, both physically and mentally. Whilst we had trained for months, my colleagues will confirm that on more than one occasion I had to remind them that I was the eldest in our team.
But we conquered it. Even though they were undoubtedly going through the same motions as I was, we pulled together; they encouraged me, I encouraged them, and together we managed to finish it in 8 hours, 27 minutes, took second place and the silver medal.
When we stood at the finish line, reflecting on what we had just achieved, we found ourselves thinking about the children at Snehalaya and what they have taught us; to face our challenges with determination, support others around you and appreciate getting the support in return. The truth is, we hadn’t planned to take second place or finish in that time, it was simply the product of how we encouraged, challenged, pushed and pulled each other over the line. It made the achievement even sweeter.
The housing industry is one huge collaboration. Many times over recent history we have shown the resilience we have. It is inevitable that we will face challenges and these may come sooner for some. However better controls, increased expertise and a well-trained, hardened group of professionals makes the challenge mouth-watering.
Bring it on!