QAC Students and Staff climb the height of the Burj Khalifa!

Earlier this month, students and staff from Zone 3 took on our indoor climbing wall to scale the
heights of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at 830m tall as part of "The Great Climb" challenge, a sponsored challenge to raise money for QAC and youngminds, a charity that helps to provide support for
children and young adults struggling with mental health challenges.

The group involved in the challenge pictured together in front of the QAC climbing wall
The event was organised by Eliza, one of our Sport students, as part of her coursework. Eliza
said ‘we had to organise a sports event for one of our units and I knew I wanted mine to be a
fundraising one. I’m passionate about mental health as I struggle with it myself, so I chose
youngminds as the second charity’.

The challenge involved climbing the wall 104 times in one day in order to reach target height.
Eliza was very persuasive and managed to get students and staff from LEAP Topaz, LEAP
Creative, Performing Arts and Hospitality groups to sign up, as well as her fellow Sports
students.

A participant climbing up the wall whilst being supported by another individual from the ground

As part of the organising of the event, Eliza helped write the risk assessment, assigned roles to
other students and took into account considerations around Covid guidelines, which is why it
was only open to Zone 3 to take part. There was plenty of sanitiser around and lots of cleaning
of equipment between climbs to make sure it was safe for everyone!

After the event, Eliza said she couldn’t believe how much it had raised, adding ‘it was also about
being inclusive and giving people the opportunity to try something new they’ve not been able to
do before. The atmosphere was buzzing and I’m so proud of everyone who climbed, we did so
well!’ He tutor Jess commented ‘I’m really proud of Eliza for using her coursework to create
something to benefit others. Her attention to detail, planning and delivery was fantastic’.
Everyone who took part worked really hard and challenged themselves, whether they did one
climb or twenty. There were plenty of smiles and a few aching limbs as everyone worked
together to reach their target, with lots of noise as they cheered each other on!

It was worth everyone’s efforts as the event raised over £1000 on the day, with more
sponsorship and pledges coming in. A big well done to everyone involved, especially Eliza who
pulled the amazing event together – and was presented with our very first QAC Fundraising Star
medal for her efforts.

The event organiser, Eliza, with her thumbs up!