Eight Maltese will this weekend attempt to conquer three of the UK’s highest peaks in just 30 hours, hoping to collect funds that will help with building a school in Ethiopia.
The Costa Three Peaks is an annual fundraiser in which Costa Coffee employees, suppliers and friends raise money by climbing the Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales. The challenge kicks off on Friday at 3am.
All the money collected will be channelled to a foundation that helps to support coffee-growing communities around the world by building schools and providing access to education.
To date, the Costa Foundation has supported over 72 school projects in nine countries.
The Maltese team – each with a ‘superhero’ in mind – has been gearing up for this challenge for over four months, trekking between 20 and 45 kilometres at least once a week.
For one participant, Christina Galea, each of the three peaks represents three different cancers that her late mother, Maria Zammit, had battled over a period of 12 years.
Conquering each mountain for me is a way of celebrating my mother’s life and her amazing strength
“Conquering each mountain for me is a way of celebrating her life and amazing strength in bringing up two young kids while fighting for her life,” Ms Galea said.
“Although she lost the battle to cancer in 2011, she will always be the strongest person I will ever know. Her memory inspires me to be a better person and mother of my own two little girls. I know she’ll be cheering for me and all the team of Maltese superheroes from up above.”
The superhero that fellow participant Bobbie Abela has constantly thought of during this experience is her late best friend and younger brother, Drew.
For Ms Abela, the 20-year-old, who passed away suddenly in June 2016, was a “true gentleman and a gentle giant”.
“Drew has taught us to love and care for each other more than ever, especially since you can never tell how much time you have with a person,” Ms Abela said.
The team’s biggest challenge in preparation for the event was to try and replicate similar conditions to the ones they are going to face in the UK in a few days.
Those interested in financially supporting the Costa Coffee Malta team can do so through a bank account called The Coffee Company Malta Ltd, using these details: BIC Code MMEBMTMT; IBAN number MT03MMEB44 118000000011152014001; HSBC Bank Malta, and list 3 Peaks Challenge as transaction details.