Northumbria Charity Champions Raise Thousands

Northumbria University Sport staff and students have raised a mountain of cash after completing the arduous Three Peaks Challenge for charity.

As the total continues to climb towards £7,500, plans are in place to use the money to support women in the West End of Newcastle and focus on mental health.

And the Northumbria Sport Foundation is already focusing on fresh fundraising challenges throughout 2017 and 2018.

“We are in a great position because we raised well over our target and more than we thought we ever could,” said Sport Services Assistant (Community and Foundation) Brogan O’Connor.

“Some of the money raised will go into supporting and re-establishing the community projects we ran last year - including the Knockout Sister boxing club for Muslim women in Fenham.

“Completing the Three Peaks Challenge means we can continue to fund two after-school sport clubs at Bridgewater School for children who wouldn’t have access to high quality sport without these sessions.

“The money should allow us to expand both of these projects. We are looking into a second venue for the boxing as well as approaching other schools with a view to delivering more after-school sport.”

The Northumbria Sport Foundation supports a number of worthy causes at home and abroad and O’Connor hopes to establish a new programme permanently linked to the Three Peaks Challenge.

“We would like to set up a whole new project to create a lasting legacy linked to the Three Peaks,” she added. “It’s important that the people who undertake wat is an extremely difficult even know where their money is going.

“At the moment we are looking into a few options and we’d like to link our work to mental health - perhaps using sport or some kind of physical activity to help those with mental health problems.

“We hope to finalise these plans over summer and have a brand new community programme in September.”