By Steve Western
•
December 29, 2019
Firstly, from all the team, THANK-YOU! 2019 is the 5th year anniversary of an idea that was only meant to be a one off event (genuinely!) and through everyone's support whether it be volunteering, donations (equipment, time, food, commercial, services etc) or taking part, this event has grown into something very special! Everyone's fundraising has so far raised over £300,000 for various children's cancer charities which is absolutely incredible! Everyone take a bow! From our point of view this years event was probably the best - outstanding weather without a drop of rain (that's a first!), a record amount of people completing the full 10 climbs but most importantly over £75,000 raised for Holibobs Children's Cancer Charity! Even though the weather was brilliant it cannot be underestimated how cold it was through the night and we must pay a special thanks to EVERYONE at both base camp (bag drop tent, main tent, 'the BBQ boys' and Izzy and her team in the 1st Aid Tent) and of course at the peak (Rebecca, Rhys and Ceri). Not forgetting the charity, Cariad, who supported us throughout the event with 1st Aid teams on the path which made such a difference to everyone. Part of your registration fee is donated to the National Trust as we want to make sure that we make as little impact on the area as possible and the donation allows the NT to keep the land in the wonderful condition that it is in. We will also be looking at ways we can make this event carbon neutral in the coming months. You will have seen our good friend Richard Watts on the mountain filming and interviewing everyone. Rich who has been with us for a few years now and this year has put together a masterpiece of a video which is on the home page. Every year he puts time and effort into a short film that highlights what an impact the event has on people's lives and every year the films get better! We constantly challenge him each year that they couldn't get better and each year he proves us wrong! That said, we honestly believe that this year is going to be very hard to beat.....! Take a look at the video and please share it when you can. The video was shown at our annual Ball where we invite all who take party to award those who have completed the full 10 climbs and also those who have volunteered and gone above and beyond to support the event! The night was, as usual, a complete success and we will update you on the date of the next Ball soon. Following the event we had the surprise announcement that 10YFan had won the category of 'Fundraiser of the Year' for the Welsh region at the 20th anniversary of Pride of Britain. When we got to London it was very clear that 10YFan is in very good company with other very worthy fundraisers across the U.K. - there were some very moving stories of people going above and beyond to raise money and although 10YFan didn't win the whole category we are very proud to even be considered and this could not be possible without everyone's hard work, support, volunteering and commitment to raising huge sums of money. Our ambassador, Michael Sheen, was at the event and he wanted to pass on his congratulations to everyone who has taken part in whatever capacity to make 10YFan one of the most successful challenge events in Wales. Not only that but we have added another ambassador to the event with Amy Dowden (Strictly Come Dancing) agreeing to support us! All in all 2019 was a huge success for 10YFan and a fitting way to see out our 5th anniversary! We are now looking forward to 2020 where we hope to make the event even better. There will hopefully be an announcement soon on including a family category as well so keep your eyes peeled. Once again thank you to everyone who has supported the event along the way and we all look forward to seeing you soon! Steve & the team