An uphill struggle for Bel (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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An uphill struggle for Bel
11:00am Friday 22nd June 2012 in Ilkley
UP AND AWAY: Heidi Marfitt, Vanessa Young, Jo Booth, Rachel Jones and Sophie Eddleston launch the charity walk challenge to raise money for Annabel ‘Bel’ Young
A mum of four is organising a women’s charity challenge to raise a “mountain of money” for a girl left paralysed by a climbing frame accident.
Sophie Eddleston is hoping to attract as many women as possible on her three-pronged challenge, which starts with a 20-mile circular walk around Harrogate, followed by tackling the three Yorkshire peaks of PenyGhent, Whernside and Ingleborough in a day and then the climax of scaling Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa next year.
She is hoping the campaign, Boots On For Bel, can raise vitals funds to help in the recovery and rehabilitation of former Ilkley schoolgirl Bel Young.
The ten-year-old spent months being treated at Leeds General Infirmary after falling from a climbing frame in a neighbour's garden in 2010 and breaking her neck, before gradually being allowed to return home near Harrogate several days a week.
The Being Bel fund has been set up to help pay for her continuing treatment, and Mrs Eddleston, 38, of Coniston Cold, near Gargrave, says she wanted to set up a massive fundraising challenge for women to raise as much money as possible.
For more on the Boots On For Bel challenge, go to beingbeltrust.org.uk.
