Festival to help rescue team

‘The Belfast Walking Festival’ will provide a planned, supervised opportunity to explore Black Hill, Black Mountain, and Divis Mountain plus Armstrong’s Hill while helping raise much-needed funds to support the work of Northern Ireland’s voluntary Mountain Rescue Service, and the team members, many of whom live and work in the Londonderry district, have appealed for support.

“The North West Mountain Rescue Team has come up with a combination of walking-based activities to suit walkers of all ages, experience and stamina levels. The Belfast Four Peaks Challenge on the Saturday is an all-day, 25-km hike around all four hills. The Night Navigation Competition is a team event aimed at cadets, scouts and Duke of Edinburgh participants keen to pit their orienteering skills against other competing teams in a bid to score the highest number of points. The event takes place between 9pm on the Saturday and 1pm on the Sunday, with an option to camp overnight on Divis Mountain,” said NWMRT stalwart Pauline McGurk.

There will be a Family Treasure Hunt on the Sunday, starting at 11am at the National Trust Centre on Divis Mountain. Participants will be issued with a quiz to guide them along the mountain route in a couple of hours while collecting answers to the clues. Goody bags and prizes await those completing the course, and there is no age limit.

“The members of North West Mountain Rescue Team will be on hand at all three events to help and assist all participants. We are aiming to raise £5000 in sponsorship this year to help fund the purchase and maintenance of essential rescue equipment,” said Joe Dowdall, Team Leader.

For further information about all three Belfast Walking Festival events, and to register, please visit www.nwmrt.org or e-mail [email protected] for an Application Pack.