Black Country Engineers Move Mountains for Sick Kids

A Black Country engineering company has raised over £5,855 for us after its employees tackled the UK’s three highest mountains.

Every year, employees at Wolverhampton based, Jenks & Cattell Engineering Ltd, vote to choose their Charity of the Year, and this year we took the majority to become its dedicated cause.

The decision was inspired by Sales and Marketing Assistant Manager, Eleanor Imray, Business Systems Manager, Tracy Richards, and General Manager, Garry Evans, who all shared their first-hand experiences of our hospital.

Thirty years ago, Eleanor was a patient at the hospital herself and received life changing spinal neurosurgery, without which she may not have been able to walk.

Devastatingly, Tracy’s connection is her grandson, Lewis, who sadly passed away after shortly after he was born with a heart-defect in 2022. As well as the doctors and nurses who did all they could to try and save her grandson’s life, Tracy also recalls the teams who supported her, her daughter, Abbie, and her family through their grief.

Garry’s daughter, Millie, has been a patient at our hospital for the last 14 years after she was born with an atrial flutter – an abnormal heart rhythm. Millie has since been diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, which means for short periods of time, her heart beats abnormally fast because of an extra electrical connection in her heart.

As well as selling badges and merchandise and holding a football sweepstake amongst colleagues to raise funds for the charity, 14 members of the Jenks & Cattell team pulled on their walking boots to take on the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within 24 hours.

Colleagues Eleanor,Zoe Collins, Jack Bate, Lisa Poxon, Mike O’Shea, Nathan Beech, Paul Wilcox, Wayne Flanagan, Kieran Hearne, Dhiraj Sharma, Andy Mullan, David Nation, Adam Halasz along with Jack the driver and Matt their mountain expertgeared up and set off on the challenge but before long it became clear they weren’t going to meet their ambitious 24-hour goal.Between Scafell Pike and Snowdon their minibus suffered two punctures, roads were closed, and minor injuries slowed the team down.

Eleanor said: “We were so determined to complete the challenge in 24-hours so when we realised that wasn’t going to be possible it was hard to stay motivated. However, it was a fantastic bonding experience and we did reach the peak of all three mountains.

“Birmingham Children’s Hospital means a great deal to so many of us at Jenks & Cattell Ltd so we’re so proud to have been able to raise over £3,000 more than our original target to support the charity and the hospital’s patients.”

Mike O’Shea, Managing Director at Jenks & Cattell Ltd said: “It was a fantastic weekend with a great team. I am proud of the teamwork shown in sticking together and the organisation we all demonstrated during this tough challenge as well as the money raised.”

Katie Harris, Corporate Partnerships Officer at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “The team at Jenks & Cattell Engineering Ltd have literally gone above and beyond for our brave patients and we couldn’t be more grateful for their ongoing support this year.

“Their fundraising will go towards helping us improve the hospital experience for our children and families, as well as create better treatments through the purchase of the latest equipment and ground-breaking research.”