Crewe charity manager scales Snowdon to help youth mental health

By Alex Greensmith 8th Aug 2024

Linda De Sa (left), of Crewe and Congleton charity Visyon.
Linda De Sa (left), of Crewe and Congleton charity Visyon.

An employee of a Crewe charity has scaled the highest mountain in Wales. 

Linda De Sa, who is Fundraising Manager at Crewe good cause Visyon, climbed the 3560 ft peak to raise money for the charity. 

She only wanted to raise £300 for her place of work, that offers counselling sessions to children and teenagers. 

Click the red links on this article to find out more (Visyon).

But Linda has smashed her fundraising goal, with £645 raised as of publication

And you too can donate on this link.

Crewe Nub News reached out to Linda and the charity, operating from Forge Street in Crewe. 

Visyon's Crewe office has four newly-furnished counselling rooms (Nub News).

"I really appreciate that the cost of living crisis has impacted on people's ability to give donations so I want to say a huge thank you," said Linda. 

"I woke up at 1am on Sunday morning and was so surprised to see the increase in donations – it gave me such a boost as I set off!

"We set off at 2am from the registration point in Llanberis and reached the summit around 5:30am in time to watch the sunrise. The walk down seemed to fly by and we were sat celebrating with breakfast by 8:30am.

Visyon is a charity supporting the mental health of children, young people and their families (Visyon).

"It was steeper than I expecting in some parts but the team kept each other going and we were all able to walk at our own pace. I remember bursting into tears when I could see the summit, it was a mix of all kinds of emotions but I felt very proud."

Linda took on the challenge with friend Emma Bateman from The Military Arms in Sandbach, and members of the public. 

"Although I work for Visyon it's personal experiences that motivate me each day to have a positive impact on the lives of children facing mental health challenges," she revealed. 

The Visyon trekkers on Snowdon (Visyon).

"I've worked in the charity sector for over 20 years and I'm always so inspired by the challenges people go through – whether it be in their day to day lives or to fundraise and support others. 

"The children and young people that come to Visyon to ask for support are taking such big steps to overcome their challenges, I'm inspired by their bravery so wanted to tackle a challenge and take some literal big steps of my own.

"Obviously, it's my job to raise money but I see the impact that money has on young people close to home. 

Around 600,000 people climb the peak each year (Visyon).

"Thanks to your donations Visyon are able to offer free, confidential support, creating a safe space for children to express their feelings and receive the help they need.

"All the money raised will go to supporting our local children, young people and their families across Cheshire East with free mental health support. We estimate that for every £860 raised a young person could complete their counselling journey with Visyon. 

"We have annual costs of approximately £900,000 and we need our community more than ever to help those children and young people that have been impacted by the ever increasing complexities of the world they're growing up in."

The latest annual statistics reveal Visyon offered 1357 one-to-one counselling sessions to 187 young people in Crewe (Visyon).

Linda will probably be doing the same challenge again this time next year, and you can join her too. 

"Funding is really hard for charities to secure right now so I'm hoping I can inspire more supporters to join Visyon on next years Snowdon Trek," she explained.

"We will be doing it again next August. Currently we offer a discount on registration fees with the new date of 2nd/3rd August 2025."

The majority of the time parents refer their children to the service, but young people can also call up when in need of support (Visyon).

Once again, you can donate on this link.

To learn more about the charity and the work they do in Crewe, please click HERE.

You can also follow the good cause on Facebook.

     

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