
A Nottingham school teacher is climbing the height of Mount Everest at home in order to raise money for two foodbank charities.
Nikyla Manners is a reception teacher at Nottingham Primary Academy. When the lockdown was announced, she decided she needed a challenge to help keep herself fit and thought it would be an opportunity to raise money for the Trussell Trust and Hope Nottingham. Her plan was to climb ‘Stairverest’ – the height of Everest on her home staircase!
Mount Everest is the world’s tallest mountain above sea level and stands at 29.030 feet tall (8,848 metres). “It’s the equivalent of climbing my staircase 3,871 times,” explained Nikyla, “which is a lot of stairs!”
“Each day I’ve been climbing the height of a well-known landmark,” explained Miss Manners. “I began on April 16th when I went up my stairs 21 times… the same height as the Millennium Dome in London.”
Day by day Nikyla has climbed taller and taller buildings – Canary Wharf, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, etc. She even climbed the height of the Nottingham Council House dressed as the Gruffalo! After the tallest buildings, it’s on to the mountains of the British Isles, such as Kinder Scout, Snowdon and Scafell Pike. Each day the total height climbed edges nearer to the goal.
“I hope to reach the ‘summit’ on Wednesday 6th May when I’ll be climbing the height of Ben Nevis,” she went on to say.
‘Stairverest’ has inspired several of Nikyla’s friends to follow similar challenges. “It’s great that we can use this time to help some of the most vulnerable in society.”
The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks and provides emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. In the first two weeks of the lockdown the Trussell Trust reported a 122% increase in children relying on food banks. You can donate to the Trussell Trust through this link: https://www.trusselltrust.org/make-a-donation/
Hope Nottingham organise a network of food banks in the Nottingham area. You can donate to Hope Nottingham through this link: https://www.give.net/20125019
