Fundraising Challenge
Saturday 13th September 2014 – Up at the O2
If you ever look back in at your achievements and time well spent, then this is definitely one of those moments.
I was heading for London on a September Saturday morning to take on the challenge of climbing over the top of the O2 Dome. As well as feeling excited I also felt satisfied that we were raising money for The Peter Pan Nursery who specialise in supporting children and families with special needs, a charity that I support so passionately.
The weather was perfect, the sun shining with just enough cloud in the sky to stop the squinting at such a height, well, not for those who had forgotten to bring their sunglasses not mentioning any names Charlotte Walker.
Upon arrival we were introduced to the lovely Adam our Tour Guide. Guided to a room ready to watch what I thought would be a boring safety video, I was pleasantly surprised as onto the screen came a very enthusiastic Rupert – safety, safety, safety! He was so amusing as well as informative! Rupert did tell us about the history of the O2 Dome, I never realised that the 12 Yellow Spikes are for each month of the year, the height is 52m which is the weeks of the year and the structure is 365m in diameter representing the days of the year. Now there is an interesting fact for you all!
Harnessed up which is not the comfiest or the most attractive as you will see from the photos, and of course not to mention the snazzy shoes, it’s a good job I remembered socks. We were all geared up and ready to go.
Now get ready for the climb, looking up and seeing the steep blue long strips getting higher and higher. The only way to describe it is that they looked like individual sections of the travelator from the Gladiators. So I thought to myself I am going to go Eunice Metcalf on these bad boys!
I volunteered to go first just so that I could say that I won and conquered the O2 Challenge first (my colleagues here at Brampton know that I am super competitive!)! So off I went with great speed, the floor was extremely bouncy, it took such willpower not to jump up and down and bounce around like a child. However I am pleased to report that I behaved!
There were 30 of us participating on the day that were all associated with the charity, some parents of children that the Nursery support and others volunteers and employees.
A steep and steady climb, I led the group right to the top of the Dome and before you knew it we had reached the top ready to take in the breath taking London scenery.
The view from the top of the O2 Dome is absolutely amazing, a 360 degree view of London. Taking in the sights of the Thames Barrier, Emirates Cable Cars, the sleek sky scrapers of the Canary Wharf, The Shard and the edge of the Excel Centre, it is such a beautiful city.
After taking in all the view and snapping lots of pictures (and selfies!) it was time to make our way down the steep slope to the bottom where we were met with a huge applause from a crowd of people watching us.
What a fabulous day I would like to say a massive thank you to Sophia Baker from The Peter Pan Nursery for organising everything and thank you to those who have supported us in sponsorship. Also a massive thank you to our tour guide Adam, you were fantastic.
If you are ever thinking of scaling the O2 then I would highly recommend it, truly a day to remember!
