Snowden Midnight Challenge helps dementia cause

Louise Birchall, Krissy Fremont and her husband Jeans-Maurice Fremont embarked on the gruelling Snowdon Midnight Challenge, which involves scaling Wales’ highest peak by torchlight at night in a seven-hour trek, raising over £1,500 in the process.

Birchall Foodservice is an independent, family-owned business established in 1939 and a founder member of the Country Range Group, while company founder George Chichester Birchall first opened an off-licence in Abel Street, Burnley, in 1915.

Krissy lost her grandmother to vascular dementia six years ago, while Jeans-Maurice likewise lost his grandmother to Alzheimer’s some three years ago, with all three climbers speaking of their pride at having complete the charity endeavor.

Sales director Louise said: “It was a truly amazing experience – and totally exhausting – but the view when we reached the top and saw the sun rising was something we’ll never forget.

“I’m so proud that we managed to complete it. Dementia is an illness which is close to our hearts because I grew up in a EMI Care Home, which my parents owned.

“We lived in a separate flat on site. From the age of 11, I understood the impact of this painful disease, watching a person gradually lose their independence and then the impact that it has on the whole family.”