St Mungo’s client and volunteer, Mandy, has shown incredible strength in her journey to conquer homelessness. Having now also conquered Mount Snowdon, Mandy shares with us her inspirational challenge and her ongoing determination to help others on their road to recovery from homelessness.
From the streets to the mountain top
In June I took on one of the biggest challenges of my life. Along with my friend Claire, also a client at St Mungo’s, we successfully led a team of other clients and staff to the top of Mount Snowdon. Snowdon is the tallest mountain in Wales at 1,085m above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside of Scotland. We were keen to do this for a couple of reasons; to celebrate how we had conquered homelessness and to raise funds and awareness to help give others the same chance.
Your support helped us to the summit, thank you.
Having spent months meticulously planning, we arrived at Snowdon the day before full of excitement and couldn’t wait for challenge day!
The team set out first thing in the morning in great spirits. We could all feel exactly how much the challenge meant to us, and we were so determined to complete it.
We were totally overwhelmed by the number of people who supported us with generous donations and lovely good luck messages in the lead up to the big day. This kept us motivated all the way to the top, we really wanted to do everyone proud.
We came. We saw. We conquered.
We made some truly special memories along the walk which we’ll never forget. Touching the summit of Snowdon was a dream come true. It was a proud and emotional moment for all of us, who had never imagined we could do something like this.
In memory of those who have died while sleeping rough
At the top of Snowdon we dedicated our challenge to those who have died while homeless or sleeping rough. We all knew that could easily have been us.
It was a particularly emotional moment for me as I took the chance to reflect on how far I had come along my journey to recovery. Just two years ago, I was sleeping rough. Today I have a place to call home and have had the chance to rebuild my life. I’ve seen myself grow so much, and I know this wouldn’t have been possible without St Mungo’s and their supporters.
Let’s help everyone conquer homelessness
At the heart of our challenge was our determination to help others who are homeless. Along with the rest of St Mungo’s, we believe that everybody should have a place to call home and can fulfil their hopes and ambitions.
I’ve experienced first-hand how dangerous rough sleeping is and how it can affect mental health. At St Mungo’s having a place to stay, therapy and learning new skills all helped me to recover. We desperately want to give other homeless people the same chance. It would mean the world to so many people if you could give a gift to help us save and change the lives of others.
We cannot thank people enough for supporting us
Thank you so much for your support. Without it, this walk would have been literally that; only a walk. Your support has made it a life changing experience not only for us, but for the homeless people we’re now able to help.
I hope that our challenge will inspire others to think that if Mandy and Claire can climb a mountain, then they can do anything they put their mind to. We’d love to think that someone sleeping rough today could hear about our achievement, feel inspired to conquer their own challenge and make a positive difference to their life or the lives of others.
