Where did our motto come from?
“A year 11 boy was referred to our service due to his angry outbursts at school about 7 years ago. We worked with him over a period of 6 months culminating in an attempt at the three peaks challenge, which entails climbing the highest peaks in the UK all within a 24 hour period for charity. At the beginning the boy was severely lacking in self-belief and unfortunately was told by his head teacher that the best he could hope for in life was to work at McDonalds. At the beginning the young lad was unfit, down in the dumps and angry due to the impact of personal circumstances but by the time we attacked the 3 peaks challenge, months later, he had taught me (Vince Parkes) many things about adversity and character.
Our team motto “Believe & Achieve” comes from a statement the boy told me whilst we were training for the 3 three peaks challenge. His grandad had passed away and he told me his grandad always used to tell him that if he believed in himself he would achieve in life. We used this as a motivational tool and roared it at each other whenever we were struggling in training. This young man’s homelife was very challenging at the time and we provided an anchor to support him through the final stages of his secondary schooling. After we completed the 3 peaks challenge the lad secured an apprenticeship with a local IT company and within a year he was headhunted to work for the borough council. The lad went onto also complete a fundraiser called the London 3 peaks challenge maintaining the fitness bug he had gained during our time together.
The boy, lad and now young man was called David and the photo opposite if of him at the top of a mountain recently, we gave him a taste of the outdoors experience and to this day its part of his life. David seized his opportunity to work with us and the rest is history”
Message from David ‘I want to thank Vince for being the person to push me through issues I never thought I could. I have done tons of other charity events since our one and have raised over £5,000 combined just from solo events. BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE!”
