This October, my partner Javan and I will be climbing our first mountain! October will also be my sixth month in post as The Haven’s new CEO and so I think we would all agree it’s time I get stuck into fundraising for the wonderful charity I am falling in love with.

Neither of us have ever done this before, and our mountaineering experience is limited to being dragged around the hills of Rowley by our dog, Remi, and so this will be quite the experience!

Whilst The Haven is the obvious charity of choice, it is important for me to outline the specific pot these funds will go into.

We are one of the largest safe accommodation providers in the country, supporting women and children impacted and made homeless by domestic abuse. Our refuges are busy spaces, and our activities with the women and children staying with us are absolutely critical to their success stories. Our staff work incredibly hard going above and beyond to arrange everything from Sports Days and trips to the seaside for our families, with our children having just had a truly wonderful summer given the circumstances they sadly find themselves in.

In climbing Snowdon, Javan and I want to raise a specific fund for activities and “me time” for the women in refuge. Haven staff already regularly arrange cooking, wellbeing and similar activities which bring residents together to enjoy some self-care, connect with eachother and learn new skills. I would love nothing more than to be able to gift our service with a healthy “extra” budget to really get creative and enrich and enhance those activities in the months to come. Whether that is for pamper and beauty supplies, cooking ingredients or arts and crafts kit - I know it will mean as much to our staff as it will to the women they are working with.

I have been blessed to get to know these women well over the last few months and it is their brave and beautiful faces I will be thinking of when the going inevitably gets tough. With Javan as the ultimate wingman, we know our climb won’t be close to as tough as the journey many women and children face and we are so looking forward to honouring them from somewhere high up in (hopefully) sunny Wales.

Let’s do this!