Bird and Mary Face Down the Three Peaks

The Calm before the Storm
Kelly Adams (Padre) & Katie Lyons (Bird)

Writers are indoor types, by and large. So when it was suggested that the Bluestone 42 team attempt the Three Peaks Challenge for charity, I jumped at the chance - to do the driving. It's a question of sitting down, staring into space and occasionally moving my hands. I'm a writer. I can do that.

But it was gruelling. Driving from Glasgow to Ben Nevis to Scafell Pyke to Snowdon and then to London. Over 800 miles in a weekend.

Richard Hurst, my writing partner, did the same - and cooked up a storm with the catering, making a fantastic chilli for the team that was consumed with speed and glee by everyone after Ben Nevis had been scaled.

Our efforts, however, are small beer compared to what the team who did the climbing went through. This is not a list of names, but a roll of honour: Kelly Adams (Mary), Katie Lyons (Bird), Scott Hoatson (Rocket) and Stephen Wight (Simon), along with Michelle Farr (Producer), Matt Stronge (Assistant Producer), Kieran Hawkes (Development Military Advisor), plus Kelly's husband, Chris, Stephen's fiance, Chloe and Michelle's partner, Simon.

Kelly & Katie, rightly jubilant.
Matt behind looking bemused

Katie, Kelly and Chris made it up and down all three peaks in 23 hours 25 minutes. Yeah, in your face, mountains. The rest made it in about 25 hours - a staggering achievement given that none of the peaks got the memo about it being the middle of June. Consistently cold conditions, torrential rain and biting wind, which nearly blew members of the team off the top of Snowdon. It was awful for me too. I could hardly sleep with that howling gale outside. (I'm joking, obviously (I slept fine (I didn't really.)))

Team Bluestone's efforts, however, are small beer compared to the real life Counter-IED teams who literally risk life and limb to make the world a safer place - taking vicious devices out of the ground that might otherwise kill or main soldiers or innocent civilians. Those who are wounded either physically or psychologically need help - and a charity called the Felix Fund is key part of providing that.

Our aim was to raise £5000 for the Felix Fund - and at the time of writing, we're about £120 short of that. But we'd love to raise more even more. So if you're a fan of Bluestone 42, or have benefited from the free sitcom-writing advice on this blog - or have just remembered you're a human being and that part of being human is to help others at a cost to yourself, please chip in. All the details are here.