Barefoot up Snowdon three and a half times in a storm — and a Nottinghamshire exhibition about eight and a half months sleeping rough
A 20-year-old chip shop worker from Worcestershire climbs Snowdon three and a half times barefoot in 24 hours for a Wyre Forest hospice, and a Nottinghamshire exhibition puts a former rough sleeper's own words on a minster wall.
Josh Mantle set off up Yr Wyddfa with his father at six in the evening, without shoes. Twenty-four hours later he had gone up and down Wales' highest mountain three and a half times. 1
Yr Wyddfa is the Welsh name for the mountain most people call Snowdon. Mantle is 20, from Stourport-on-Severn in Worcestershire, and works in a chip shop. 1
He had one day, running from Saturday evening into Sunday, to make as many ascents of the mountain as he could, and he finished with three and a half. 1
The climb
The rain began within an hour of the start and barely stopped. "We were soaked through for a good 10 hours," Mantle said afterwards. 1
By his own account the night brought 80mph winds, hail and rain. 1
He had prepared for the surface rather than the height, hardening the soles of his feet with rubbing alcohol in the weeks beforehand. 2
Two knee operations were already behind him, with a third booked in, after an anterior cruciate ligament injury from skiing. 2
What he expected at the end was cut feet. What he got, he said, was sore toes. 1
"I've come out of it, despite the weather conditions, with zero cuts, no blisters," he said. "All I've got is just very sore toes." 1
The idea came from another barefoot climber he met on the mountain. "I thought that looks crazy, and me being the crazy person that I am, I thought I would give that a go," he said. 1
Where the money goes
The climb was for KEMP Hospice, in the Wyre Forest, which Mantle had first visited as a schoolboy. 2
KEMP gives free specialist care and support to patients, families and carers living with life-limiting illness and bereavement. 3
That care runs through its day hospice, in people's homes and virtually. 3 Its family support team counsels adults, children and young people, and takes referrals from people with no other connection to the hospice. 4
By Sunday evening Mantle's fundraising page showed £3,196.89 in donations, from online gifts and collection buckets, plus £650.47 in Gift Aid. 5 He had started with a target of £500. 2
"My feet hurting for a few days is nothing compared to what some people go through," he said before the attempt. 2
Eight and a half months
In Nottingham, there is a second story about what people hand over. 6
Lisa Barlow, 47, spent eight and a half months sleeping rough on the city's streets after years of addiction. Moving into supported accommodation run by the homelessness charity Framework was, she says, the turning point. 6
She is housed now, and has volunteered for Framework for more than a year. 6
Her recorded testimony and poems are part of an exhibition marking the charity's 25 years. "From trauma to hope to independence" opened on Saturday at Southwell Minster, in Nottinghamshire, and stays there until 20 October. 6
The show includes paintings, installations, spoken word performance, real-life testimony and a soundscape of the noises rough sleepers hear. 6
It then travels to Lincoln Cathedral from 27 October to 5 November, to St Mary's Church in Nottingham from 17 to 22 November, and ends at the charity's music festival, Beat The Streets, on 31 January. 6
Framework supports people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless across Nottinghamshire, and provides social housing. 6
Claire McGonigle, its chief executive, said the charity had "affected the lives of thousands of people" in its 25 years. "We wish we hadn't been needed for so long, but we are," she said. 6
"Me getting through what I went through, I know that I can help somebody else get through and get their life back," Barlow said. 6
Two people, two currencies. Mantle handed over a pair of soles and a weekend he will feel for a while. Barlow handed over eight and a half months, written down where anyone can walk in and read it.
References
- 1
- 2
- 3About KEMP Hospice
kemphospice.org.uk
- 4Family Support and Bereavement Service
kemphospice.org.uk
- 5Josh's fundraiser for KEMP Hospice
justgiving.com
- 6
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