Two Members Off Staff Take On Ambitious Challenge

Law firm Irwin Mitchell has completed its most ambitious charity challenge to date after two members of staff scaled the heights of Mount Everest twice in a bid to raise money for three charities.

Rather than taking off for snowy Nepal, the climbers simulated the feat by taking on a 7.4m high climbing wall erected in Sheffield city centre around 500 times, matching the height of the Himalayan giant.

However, despite a target time of 30 hours, lawyer Andrew Smith and IT technician Scott Flower completed the climb in just 11 – so immediately completed it all over again!

The two day climb, over the 1st and 2nd of September, was preceded with a 5.2km trek from the ‘foot of the mountain’ – Irwin Mitchell’s Riverside offices – to ‘base camp’, set up at Barker’s Pool.

The mammoth climb saw the duo raise over £4,500 for three charities: Amy’s House and Sheffield Young Carers – the Irwin Mitchell Charity Foundation’s Sheffield office charities of the year – and Help for Heroes.

Andrew Smith, a lawyer in the personal injury team at Irwin Mitchell, said: “We looked upon the climb as an enormous challenge, but were confident that we would complete it despite the fact that neither of us had climbed before. We never thought for a minute that we would do it as quickly as we did, never mind then do it all over again!

“We’d just like to thank everyone that came down to support us, everyone who donated to three great causes, and to the Virgin Active gym for letting us use their climbing wall to train on for free.

“All three charities provide an incredible level of help and support to those in need, and we know they rely heavily on fundraising and donations to continue to provide these crucial services.”

Adrian Budgen, a Partner at Irwin Mitchell and Chair of the Irwin Mitchell Charities Foundation, said: “Irwin Mitchell has a long history of charity fundraisers, which have included a 100km walk in 24hrs, a 24 hour row-a-thon and a 36 hour darts marathon. We thought this was one of our most ambitious yet, but Andrew and Scott have blown us away!

“They did amazingly well to complete what was an immense initial challenge in such a short space of time, and for them to go ahead and double that achievement is just incredible. We are extremely proud of our efforts made for charity at Irwin Mitchell, and very few can top what Andrew and Scott have done here.”