The Portman Estate climb Wales' highest peak

Let's hear it for our corporate partner The Portman Estate as their team head up Wales’ highest peak to raise funds for Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity!

At their Marylebone Head Office on Great Cumberland Place, a group of employees from The Portman Estate are resolved to take the stairs up to their desks on the fourth floor at every opportunity as they tot up and train for their climb up Snowdon next Saturday. They are heading to the top of Wales’s highest peak this month to raise money for Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity - The Portman Estate's corporate charity partner. The Portman Estate has a three-year partnership with our charity and say they’re determined to add thousands to the pot with this climb. A team of nine is being led by the company’s Associate Director - Head of Project Delivery Mark Hopkins (pictured here, second left) - who says his daughter has inspired him and helped him appreciate the difference Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity makes to thousands of families across the UK. "Like most parents we never take our daughter's health for granted, but perhaps because she's an IVF child – and more of a gift than we ever thought possible – it's helped us imagine and appreciate what it must be like having this precious thing in your life who is unwell and who you are fighting for,” says Mark. “We are so lucky she was born healthy, but if she was - like so many children - seriously ill we know we'd want the support Roald Dahl Nurses offer so we could feel confident that we weren't missing anything, that we had help to navigate her care, so that we could appreciate every minute we had together. As I've learned about the charity, I've learned so much about what these specialist nurses offer.”

Mark is used to climbing and hiking - he's been up Snowdon five times, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and trekked up to Everest's base camp. But he says having so many of his colleagues sign up to do this with him makes this climb special, and they're all motivated by the difference they might make.  "We all feel a sense of responsibility for the help we want to provide and the money we want to raise," says Mark. "We’ve been sharing news of the event with our suppliers and partners, and training together - outside in our spare time and by using the office stairwell much more. We'll be going up to North Wales together, staying overnight before the walk and see it as a great opportunity to get to know each other better as we do something for others. And I'll be thinking about my daughter as I go…”