Lord Forsyth
During recesses, peers engage in a range of activities. Some will be pursuing their professional careers. Some go off to undertake various voluntary and charitable activities. Lord McColl of Dulwich, for example, a leading surgeon, usually spends his summers on a Mercy Ship off the coast of Africa performing surgery.
This Christmas, Lord Forsyth has gone off to climb Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antartica. He is doing it for Child in Need India (CINI) and Marie Curie. He writes: “My wife, my children and grandchildren, and many of my friends and colleagues – although magnificently supportive – think this is a madcap venture for a 56-year-old member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords.” From the point of view of the charities, it is far from madcap: he has raised already more than £330,000.
More details can be found on his website, Vinson Challenge. This includes a blog with posts on his progress. There are also some stunning photographs.
UPDATE: Lord Forsyth has reached the peak. You can read more on his blog as well as here.
Wonderful stuff from our madcap Lords that appear to not be so far from those intrepid explorers of past ages.
Lord Forsyth`s blog is fantastic, with as you say, great pictures and the charities deserving. It isn`t so much a madcap venture for a 56 year old member of the House of Lords as just a madcap venture fora 56 year old of any description. Well done to him and I hope tomorrow to read he has reached the summit. Lord Norton of course would have beaten him to the summit – provided that`s where the tea was.
I hope the members of the House are giving freely to sponsor Lord Forsyth in this venture, it is not easy and it is deserving of his colleagues backing.
Having seen some of the charitable work our surgeons do in their free periods on TV they are all to be congratulated on great works. Well done Lord McColl.
Carl.H: I am sure that a great many peers have contributed. I have and I hope as many others as possible (not just peers) do so.
It would certainly need to be remarkable tea to get me up a mountain – never mind flying to Antartica.
From the Vinson Challenge blog we can see Lord Foryth has now finished the hard parts in reaching both targets. Can we now say he has peaked and everything in future will be a decline ?
😉
Fantastic job by him, congratulations Lord Forsyth. I couldn`t help but melt a little at his childrens messages today, though they are probably not that young.
“It would certainly need to be remarkable tea to get me up a mountain”.
I`m sure some would say the same about staying in Hull my Lord !
What a splendidly marvellous man Lord McColl is! What fine charitable work, and Epsom college too!
May his work in West Africa thrive and flourish
for many a long year!
THAT is charity.
£330,000 by any reckoning is a fantastic achievement, so hats off! I do worry about people doing parachute jumps for charity as some suffer back injuries etc., and a rescue attempt in Antarctica might not be too cheap to mount either, But all went well here. Key thing about sponsored activities is to get the sponsorship in with Gift Aid and electronically. I recall a sponsored 20-mile walk I did 43 years ago where the collecting the money was far far more tiring than the walk itself; by contrast a walk I did in 2009 raised 35 times more and all in less than 30 minutes (the walk took longer, not least for comfort breaks, and an ice cream).
recall a sponsored 20-mile walk I did 43 years ago where the collecting the money was far far more tiring than the walk itself;
Apart from the 20 miles, which must have been done in record time to deserve anything at all, it is the self financing of the journey which is the biggest problem!
If you are doing a three week ride,cycle, jog whatever, which might cost a thousand pounds to organise, you really have to get sponsorship of an equal amount or much more, to make it worth while not just giving the money to the charity, and staying at home!
Well, yes, being young then the 20 miles was polished off in less than 5 hours without breaking sweat, though it was force of numbers participating that brought in a lot of money more than the amount of sponsorship.
All sponsored activity is mainly just trying to induce people to part with their money who otherwise might not, and the aim should be to part people from their money as with plucking geese, with the minimum amount of hissing possible. I think the logistics involved in these mega-expeditions make them more of a self-indulgence or personal challenge. Of course the other purpose of these exercises is to publicise the causes – think of the Help for Heroes major and the funds and publicity he has generated.
Dan Filson: About 40 years, I did a 50-mile walk (Louth to Skegness and back). I did it non-stop. It took me 15 hours and 1 minute!
Manchester University Rag Week included a Bogle Stroll from Lancaster to Manchester down the route of the old A6 through Chorley and Preston, 54 miles, in 1 day or less,setting off at 11pm. I only made it to the 26 mile point before cramp and cold stopped me, but army cadets ran it in kit, likewise other athletes, and a surprising did manage it each year to Piccadilly Gardens by late afternoon. The campus was full of bow-legged students for days afterwards. It raised a LOT of money.
Great stories !