A DEVOTED aunty from Wythall spent her birthday weekend doing a Ben Nevis climb to raise funds for a charity supporting her niece.
Sophie Bosworth, aged 31, rallied her friends and family for the momentous hike which has raised £8,694 for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation.
In total, 12 people joined Sophie on the hike over the August bank holiday weekend and helped smash the original fundraising target of £5,000
The charity has been an important one to Sophie ever since her two-year-old niece, Nellie, was born with the rare condition, Alagille syndrome.
The illness affects about one in every 30,000 babies and its effects vary from one person to another, but can impact the heart, kidneys, eyes and bones as well as the liver.
“My sister, Cara, was put in touch with the charity, shortly after Nellie’s diagnosis and they have been there for her with information and support ever since,” said Sophie.
“Nellie is doing brilliantly but she will continue to need the charity’s support as she grows up. Her first operation is scheduled for October this year so that was also in the back of my mind the whole time.”
“I wanted to take on a special fundraising challenge to celebrate my birthday and thought that, even though it’s 400 miles away, it was only right to do the biggest mountain in the UK for Nel.“
The fundraiser proved a challenge in every sense. Sophie journeyed eight hours to Scotland before being met with ‘appalling’ weather at the foot of Ben Nevis.
Group leader of the hike, Sam Cairns, said it was the worst conditions he had experienced in over 100 Ben Nevis climbs.
Sophie added: “Even though we were all properly dressed and prepared, we found it brutal. We were all soaked to the skin.
“It was so worth it, however, for such a brilliant fundraising total that is still creeping up.
“It was a wonderful team effort and I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved.
“I hope to continue doing an annual fundraiser every year with a new challenge, and I hope Nellie looks back and feels as proud of me as I am her. She is my everything.”
Michelle Wilkins, head of children’s and families’ services at Children’s Liver Disease Foundation said it has been great to see Nellie progress over the past two years.
She added: “We’re delighted and so grateful to see what this challenge has raised. It’s a tremendous result and Sophie is clearly a fantastic fundraiser as well as a wonderful aunty.”
Visit childliverdisease.org for more information.
Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/ben-nevis-for-nel to donate.
