Another Sibelius Lodge Member reaches the heights for Charity

John Bennett and his wife Nicola take on the Ben Nevis challenge hiking and then cycling to the summit

Yet another exhausting way to raise funds for charitable causes, and on this occasion John Bennett of Sibelius Lodge No. 9448 that meets at the Hutton Masonic Hall, took up the Ben Nevis Challenge with his wife Nicola, during the final week of May.

The challenge was spread over two days with hiking to the summit of Ben Nevis on the first day and on the second, cycling by mountain bike on the Nevis Range to an elevation gain of 1200m! (almost 4,000 feet).

John and Nicola love cycling which was part of their initial thoughts to attempt this feat of endurance. The motivation followed, which was twofold, firstly, knowing of the many charitable events undertaken by Sibelius Lodge members and, secondly raising money for two charities very close to both John and Nicola’s hearts namely the Little Havens Children’s Hospice who provide specialist end of life care for babies, children and teenagers, to help make this journey as comfortable as possible and the Rayleigh Mountain Bike (MTB) club being a tight-knit community and family, promoting fitness and helping young riders get involved in the amazing sport of mountain biking.

Donations to John and Nicola’s ‘Go Fund Me’ page raised £440 which will be equally split between the two charities.

This is not the first time the Sebelius Lodge has ‘reached the heights for charity’ as their member, Bernie Smith during his year as Master took part in a sponsored skydive and you can read his story by clicking the following link:  

https://www.essexfreemasons.org.uk/news/bernie-001

You can read more about the Charities by clicking their links here:

Little Havens Children’s Hospice

https://www.havenshospices.org.uk/childrens-and-young-peoples-care/little-havens/

Rayleigh MTB club

https://www.cyclinguk.org/group/rayleigh-mtb-group

Photo

Top: John and Nicola at the summit of Ben Nevis