Meet Christina Hill, fundraiser and Three Peaks Challenge participant

Christina has lived in the UK for over 20 years, previously calling the USA, Singapore, Australia and Greece her home. Today, she works at Cordic, a software company based in Cambridge that provides technology to help power taxi and private hire fleets.

Earlier this year, Cordic chose Cambridge City Foodbank as its Charity of the Year, and in July, a team of employees completed the Three Peaks Challenge to raise funds and support our work in the local community.

Christina was one of the participants who completed the challenge. We spoke to her to find out more about Cordic’s connection with the Foodbank, her experience taking on the challenge and how it led to her discovering a love of hiking.

What made Cordic want to support our Foodbank and how did you choose the Three Peaks Challenge?

Our head office is in Cambridgeshire, so everyone wanted to support a smaller community charity that might not get the same level of support as a national charity. The Foodbank spoke to many people’s hearts, so when we voted, I think it was a landslide choice!

For us, the idea of the Three Peaks Challenge started almost as a redemption story. Our Chief Technology Officer, Idris, had attempted the challenge previously, and really wanted to finish it – dropping hints about it here and there. Eventually, after a Christmas party where spirits were high, a group of us agreed to take on the challenge in support of the Foodbank.

Can you tell us about your Three Peaks Challenge experience?

To be completely honest, the challenge was absolutely brutal. We had the worst weather imaginable – rain, fog, wind and incredibly poor visibility. Ben Nevis was supposed to take around five hours but instead took seven. Our journey to Scafell Pike consisted of road closures and swarms of deer jumping in and out of the roads. Once we arrived, we were greeted by conditions that pushed the hike from the predicted four hours to six. Despite the delays, we all wanted to continue to climb Snowdon, but it became apparent we would not be able to do so and still make it back in time for work on Monday.

The weather and physical side were tough, but the lack of sleep was probably one of the hardest things to contend with. Between the 20 hours of driving and 13 hours of hiking, it was impossible to get any sleep, so even some of the younger and more in-shape team members struggled.

On top of that, Idris injured his Achilles on the way up Ben Nevis, while my knees gave out on the descent. We kept pushing through as we knew we were working towards an amazing goal for a fantastic cause, but truly, everything that could have gone wrong did.

I can’t overstate how proud I am of the entire group. From training for months in preparation to tackling the challenges in stride, it’s not something everyone could overcome. Not only did Nick, Ilan and Idris complete two out of three mountains, but they kept the mood happy and positive, despite the less than ideal conditions. Our driver, James, had to undertake all of the driving on his own. He got us to our destinations despite road closures, kept the vibes high with music, cleaned the car between climbs and prepared all of our hot food and meals. They are truly the best team I could have hoped for, and they made everyone at Cordic so proud!

So, will you be going back to complete Snowdon, and do you see yourself doing more hiking in the future?

Absolutely! We are planning to travel together to conquer Snowdon in the future, and I’m really excited to do so. I think it’ll be under much better conditions because we’ll have slept, and fingers crossed, won't be hit with the extreme weather conditions. Some of us are bringing our families, so it will be a nice group effort.

Since the challenge, I’ve really fallen in love with hiking, and now I have the AllTrails app, so whenever I travel with my family, we go and find cool trails to do. 

What would you like to say to the people reading this?

I would urge other local businesses to consider supporting the Foodbank. It’s been wonderful to support something local. For me it felt fulfilling to support a charity helping local people.

To the volunteers, I’d like to say you are the real heroes. The people who are offering their time regularly to support the Foodbank and people in need are absolutely inspiring.