Why Climb of Life is taking fundraising to new heights

In 2007, Graeme Chapman embarked on a mission to raise money for The Institute of Cancer Research. Eighteen years on, his annual fundraising event is still going strong and has raised more than £1.5m for our vital research. Here, Graeme explains what inspired him to start, and reveals his top tips for fundraisers.

Last November 110 dedicated walkers braved the rain and cold to take part in the annual Climb of Life event, the 18th held in support of The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).

More than £90,000 was raised, taking the total donated so far to the ICR to £1,539,824 – an incredible sum that will significantly drive more discoveries and transform lives.

Climb of Life was founded by Graeme Chapman MBE, in 1991. Over the years 350 trekkers have climbed 4,575,000ft – the equivalent of scaling Everest 157 times.

Graeme tells us how Climb of Life began, and shares some of the secrets of its success.

His story starts on Christmas Day in 1984, when he proudly told his young sons that he’d bought the fundraising Band Aid record, to support victims of the famine in Ethiopia.

“They weren't terribly impressed,” he says, “So I asked them what they expected me to do and they told me that they had friends who were sponsored for activities such as running or swimming. Well, I'm not a great swimmer and I don't like running. And they said, ‘No, but you're always climbing mountains’.

“Without thinking too much, I said, ‘Well then, I'll climb the highest mountain in England. In the winter, on my own and I’ll also go up the adjacent peaks’. And that did impress them.

“Then I had to be true to my word. I called it Three Peaks for Ethiopia.”

‘I found myself in a severe blizzard’

At the time Graeme lived in Cambridgeshire, a county with few hills, so he made some trial climbs in the Lake District where Scafell Pike, the tallest mountain in England, is situated.

“One practice run didn’t go very well – I found myself in a severe blizzard, and it really was quite dangerous because there were steep drops on either side. I was lost and I came across three other guys who were lost too. And two of them were mountain rescue volunteers. There were no mobile phones in those days, so the four of us kept together, and we took the slightly easier route. We made it down safely but our cars were about 30 miles away. We knocked on a farmer’s door and offered to pay him if he would take us around the passes and deliver us back to our cars.

“I knew my wife would be getting worried, so I found a telephone box and told her the car had a puncture, and I was delayed. Years later, I did admit the truth to her.

“I did manage to complete the three peaks that winter. My climb got a tremendous amount of publicity within our industry trade press, which is why I raised more than £6,500 relatively easily. I had the advantage of being a Managing Director in the office products industry based in Cambridgeshire, with a lot of customers and suppliers, who were very generous.

‘We started off with 20 friends at base camp’

“The following year I went to an exotic car hire company and persuaded them to lend me a top-of-the-range Mercedes convertible. The idea was that I would get sponsored for every sales call that I made in the car while visiting our customers. Again, we got a lot of publicity within the trade, and that raised £10,485.

“A few years later I joined a wholesaling company and the staff approached me to organise fundraising for Children in Need. The very first episode was broadcast in 1988 and I raised £6,629 simply by shaving my beard off!”

Graeme had first visited the Lake District with his father when he was 10 years old and fell in love with the mountains. He has the impressive record of climbing all 330 Lake District outlying fell routes, as pioneered by Alfred Wainwright – one of only 142 people to have done it.

In his twenties, he taught rock climbing to members of the Territorial and regular Army as a civilian volunteer.

So it was a natural shift in 1991 to switch his fundraising efforts to his beloved mountains, and that’s when Climb of Life was born.

“We started off with 20 friends and our first base camp was the Swan Hotel in Grasmere. We’ve now stayed there 29 times, only going elsewhere when it was being refurbished.

“Over 19 years we raised £500,000 for Children in Need.”

In 2000 Graeme was awarded the MBE by Queen Elizabeth for his fundraising work – “a proud moment” – and by 2006 decided to ‘retire’ Climb of Life. He was thanked at a special drinks reception in his honour with the then Director General of the BBC, and the broadcaster Terry Wogan.

‘The ICR impressed me the most’

“I was overwhelmed by the reception – but then members of the Climb of Life team got together and asked me to reconsider retiring the event. I did reconsider, but didn’t want to go back to the BBC because they’d already said thank you. So I looked for another cause.

“My father had died of pancreatic cancer and I had friends that were close to me who had cancer, so it seemed an obvious one to choose. I visited three cancer research establishments in London, and one of them was the ICR.

“The ICR impressed me the most because of the scientific work that they were doing. I sat down with them and showed them a booklet I’d put together to demonstrate what I had done over the 19 years. And I said, ‘I want to work with you, but I want you to work with me as a team’. And it’s been a great partnership ever since.

“In 2007 we raised £62,000 and it’s gone up a great deal since then. And I’ve made so many close friends at the ICR.” Among them are the ICR’s former Chief Executive, Professor Paul Workman, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust's Clinical Scientist in Radiotherapy and Imaging, Irene Chong. Both are regular participants on Climb of Life.

‘Cancer can become resistant to treatment’

The walking event offers 12 routes with different levels of challenge, organised and led by expert group leaders and all beginning from base in Grasmere, Cumbria. Some of the groups climb peaks including Helvelyn, Bowfell, Crinkle Crags and the Langdale Pikes, while others carry out more gentle walks along locations such as Helm Crag and Gibson Knott.

It’s long been an industry recognised charitable event in the business supplies community, according to Philip Lawson, who took over running Climb of Life six years ago.

Graeme’s belief in the cause of cancer research touched his life in a very real way when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012.

He was successfully treated at the Lancaster Royal infirmary in Lancashire.

He says: “It did strengthen my resolve to carry on supporting the fundraising efforts at the ICR. But even without that experience I’ve seen firsthand the incredible and valuable work that is being done there, through visits to the ICR and what I’ve learnt from the scientists. I’ve learnt that part of the issue is that cancer manages to find new pathways and can become resistant to treatment. I know that the scientists are working to overcome this.”

To find out more about the Climb of Life and other sports and challenge events, contact Rachael Potter at [email protected]

In the past 18 years Graham has been invited to write about mountaineering trips for travel magazines, leading him and his wife Ruthy to adventures in Mount Fuji in Japan, the Himalayas, Patagonia, and New Zealand. He has written a book called By Thumb, To the Lowest Point on Earth, about his travel adventures, 50 per cent of the proceeds will go towards our research.

Philip, Graeme and their team are an example of the many generous individuals, trusts and companies that choose to invest in our work. This includes funding start-up costs for new research teams, research positions, buildings, equipment and training the next generation of cancer researchers.

But what’s the secret to running a successful fundraising campaign, whatever the size?

Graeme has some pointers.

1: Put on your sales hat

The Swan in Grasmere is a wonderful place to stay and has been a great base for us each year. But initially I managed to persuade the manager of the hotel to give us a good discount.

I had telephoned a few hotels, told them what I was doing for charity, and they offered a small discount, which was nowhere near what I was hoping for.

I then decided to do a sales job and meet face to face. I went with a suit, tie and briefcase, and I presented myself at the front desk. I got a generous discount because the manager was convinced that it was a great charity to be associated with.

2: Find something you enjoy

If you can, find something that you enjoy doing, that you're good at, and at the same time you can raise money for charity. It's a genuine win-win situation.

3: Believe in your cause

I come from a sales and marketing background and that obviously helps, because you have to be brave. There's no point in starting a sales conversation being timid and shy. You have to believe in your product, and if your product is a charity, you can boldly make a presentation and use illustrations in a very positive and engaging way.

I don't think I could sell or persuade anybody about something that I didn't believe in, because I wouldn't come across as being genuine.