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Records tumbled at the KM Abseil Challenge on Sunday.
The annual abseil event attracted a record 130 participants raising £25k. Thirty good causes will earn a slice of the charity pot. The event is the most financially successful abseil event in the history of the KM Charity Team, which stages a number of collaborative fundraising events which any good cause can use to support their fundraising.
Charities from every corner of the county were involved including Age UK branches in Thanet and Maidstone, Macmillan Cancer Support, Catching Lives, Bechange, Porchlight, East Kent Mencap and Strood Community Project.
The highest individual fundraiser was Rachel Curley from Maidstone who raised £1,290 for Cancer Research UK. The biggest group fundraisers were Swale Action to End Domestic Abuse who raised £1,495.
The oldest abseiler was 72-year-old Valerie Watkins from Canterbury who raised £820 for Catching Lives which supports the homeless. The youngest participant was 14-year-old Molly Godden of Herne Bay who raised £145 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The best fancy dress outfit was worn by 16-year-old Ethan Williams of Sandwich who donned a Spiderman outfit for the experience and raised £160 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Simon Dolby from the KM Charity Team, which staged the abseil event, praised the event sponsors for their backing. These included Day, Smith Hunter chartered accountants and business advisers, social housing landlord Golding Homes and Kent scaffold company P&M Scaffolding.
Mr Dolby said: “I am so grateful Golding Homes and the tenants of Midhurst Court allowed us to stage the event. It was massively popular with good causes in the county and we very much hope to be able to return next year to repeat the event. The partnership with Golding Homes has been a spectacular success this year.”
The abseil was staged at Midhurst Court, Maidstone, a towering residential block in the heart of Maidstone owned by Golding Homes.
Midhurst Court tenant Dawn Harris took part to raise awareness for Re-Solv, a charity which raises awareness for substance abuse. Her son died at the age of 15 after sniffing solvents for recreation, now she campaigns to raise awareness of the issue and used the abseil event to raise funds to support the project.
The next KM Charity Challenge will be the annual KM Charity Walk due to be staged on the last Sunday in June. Visit www.kmcharitywalk.co.uk to find out more to to book tickets. Use discount code CHARITY16.
