SUPPORT workers from Darlington College are going up hill and down dale to raise funds for budding Paralympic star Kieran Maxwell.
Learning support advisor Rob Mazur has worked closely with Kieran since he began studying for a Personal Training qualification at the College last year.
On May 21 and 22, he and Bob Simpson – who provides additional learning support at the college – will attempt the Three Peaks Challenge, which involves climbing the highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales in the space of 24 hours.
Rob said: “The Three Peaks is on my bucket list – I love all that sort of stuff. Me and Bob were chatting about it in the office and just decided to do it, it was a quick decision.”
Bob added: “It made sense to do it for Kieran, Rob works with Kieran a lot of the time and it’s a great fund.”
The money will go to support Kieran as he tries to secure a place at the Rio Olympics this summer, and having already raised £150 the duo hope to hit their target of £1,000 before they attempt the challenge in May.
Kieran said: “If I need to go to any competitions to build myself up for the Paralympics, to get my times down, most of them are down in London, some are in Scotland, all over the UK, so I need the money to fund all of that.
“It’s great that two people who I know from college are taking the time to do something to help me to actually do my goal in life really, which is to go to the Paralympics.”
The pair are already tuning up for the challenge, with a practise run on Scafell Pike arranged for Thursday, February 18.
Rob said: “It’s important to do it because we’ll be starting on Scafell Pike at about four in the morning, and it will still be dark so we’ll need to know where we’re going – although we’ve arranged the day so there will be a full moon to give us extra light.
“We’re happy to support Kieran in any way we can.”
To donate to the cause, visit Rob and Bob’s crowd-funding page at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/robert-mazur-1 .