Fourty-four brave souls ran, crawled, and hauled themselves through a mud-drenched military assault course to raise money for Chorley children’s hospice Derian House this weekend.
Those who endured Born Survivor raised an impressive £15,000 for the charity that cares for 400 babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions from across the North West.
From epic mud slides, energy-draining monkey bars, a fire pit jump, barbed wire army crawl and an enormous wall, the daredevils tackled 30 obstacles at the UK’s most authentic military course in the Ribble Valley on Saturday 16 September.
Nine people, including joiners, quantity surveyors, engineers and builders from Preston-based builders Kingswood Homes took part and raised a total of £2,625.
Liam Reilly, Customer Care Manager at Kingswood Homes, said: “It was a tough course but a lot of fun. Some of us struggled on the monkey bars over muddy water and the high walls, but I think the hardest part was actually running up the hills between the obstacles. But we stuck together as a team the whole way round and helped each other which was brilliant.
“We’ve got a long-standing relationship with Derian House after giving them a brand new house last year in the Great Big House Giveaway and we think they’re just the ultimate charity to support.”
A troupe of 13 from Unicorn Fitness based at GymWorks in Chorley got through the course in just under three hours and raised more than £5,328.
Piros Ersek, personal trainer at Unicorn Fitness, said: “Our tactic was to work as a team rather than race through it, we just wanted to complete the course. It is a fantastic achievement considering different team members had different fears to overcome – like heights, water, confined spaces.
“This is the third year that we have raised money for Derian House and it has become a cause close to my heart so I have committed to try to do something every year. Although we are in absolute bits since the challenge we would do it all over again. It was an absolute honour to wear the Derian House T-shirts.”
A team of 10 from Perspective Financial Group, from Chorley, raised £2,654. Bosses at the independent wealth management company decided to match the money raised, bring it to a whopping £5,308.
Vicki Wynne, Integration Manager at Perspective Financial Group, said: “Everyone involved with Derian House does an amazing job supporting the children and their families and we wanted to give something back. The day was incredible. We were ‘The Green Army’ in our T-shirts. The obstacles were tough but the sense of achievement in completing it was overwhelming. My least favourite was the 10ft drop into deep muddy water. I don’t like heights and I startled the volunteers with an embarrassing scream!”
Kerry Pritchard, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “Every single person who took part in this year’s event has proven that they have what it takes to be a Born Survivor! Every penny raised will mean the world to our families – well done everyone.
“It will cost £6million to run services at Derian House in 2023, and so we rely heavily on all of our kind-hearted supporters who help us to continue to do what we do.”
To sign up to next year’s Born Survivor for Derian House, contact: Kerry.pritchard@derianhouse.co.uk
Derian House, based in Chorley, Lancashire, cares for more than 400 babies, children, young people and their families from across the North West and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
