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    Feeling on top of the world

    14 March 2022

    An expedition to Mount Everest – the idea from Karl Hick, Chairman of Larkfleet Group searching for a way to raise funds and awareness for stroke victims after his wife, Helen Hick suffered an unexpected stroke in 2020.

    Climbing to the base camp of the worlds tallest mountain Most Everest is the aim of Karl, along with two of his sons one of whom works at Allison Homes with work colleagues Andrew McPartlin and Mark Calo. 

    The team have already started their intense physical training programme and set off to Nepal and the Himalayan mountains on March 22nd 2022 for a two week trek which will see them reach the highest point on earth.

    The aim is to raise £50,000 for The Helen Hick Stroke Foundation, a charity which has been set-up to help support victims and their families from strokes and to help avoid future cases in the UK.

    Karl said, ‘after witnessing Helen suffer from a stroke and seeing what little support was available to help the victims made me angry. I was upset to think that many people before Helen had suffered and been given very little support or help. More concerning was that there are many things that everyone can do on a regular basis which will prevent strokes from even happening. 

    I quickly started thinking of ways I could help, my first idea was to set-up a charity and have a fundraising event which would capture the imagination of the public and raise, not only some funds, but also awareness. I also distributed leaflets to my employees  explaining what they could do in their own lives to help prevent themselves and their families from this suffering.

    The Everest challenge will not only create awareness but also raise some much needed investment into research and help for stroke victims. 

    In the UK there are over 1.3 million stroke survivors, with over 100,000 having a stroke every year, which means someone is suffering from a stroke every 5 minutes.

    Our charity hopes to raise awareness if you are at risk of a stroke, create Support Groups give support and offer reassurances.

    Donations can be made via our Just Giving page found here.