In July I got in touch to set you, your colleagues and friends our new virtual challenge – to climb the 7 Hills of Edinburgh in a week (or a day!) and fundraise for St Columba’s Hospice Care.

I hope you’re planning to take part and look forward to hearing from you soon. If you’re still deliberating, here are 7 great reasons to get involved.

1. Helps us continue to provide vital care and supportive services to our patients and their families – at home, at our inpatient unit and in other care settings.

2. It’s a fantastic way to enjoy the great outdoors with your workmates and friends – time to bond away from the office – or, more than likely, time out from home-working and zoom!

3. Every one of the 7 hills we’ve challenged you to climb is easy to access from Edinburgh and surrounding areas. So, as this is a walking challenge (running, hopping or skipping also permitted!) why not get to them on foot?

4. The views are stunning. Take it from us. We have loved scouting the walks – though admittedly none of our team have yet managed all 7 hills in one day. Maybe you can be the first team to do it?

5. Think of the satisfaction you’ll feel when your Strava map forms a lovely continuous red circle around Edinburgh. That’s definitely one to share on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Just remember to tag us! #SummitForStColumbas

6. You can adapt this challenge to suit you, your team and your friends. The beauty of a virtual event is that you can stick to important government guidelines whilst coming together online to share your achievements, funny moments and celebrate together.

7. We couldn’t do this without supporters like you. 82p of every £1 is spent directly on patient care with the other 18p going towards raising the next £1. You can read more about what your fundraising could help us pay for here.

Hopefully, you are now raring to go and already have a team in mind! The St Columba’s 7 Hills challenge runs from 21 to 28 August so you still have time to sign up. You can simply set up your JustGiving page here – https://www.justgiving.com/start-fundraising.

Then email me at asouthey@stcolumbashospice.org.uk to register your team. I’d be delighted to help you plan your challenge and provide more information.

You can read about our Hospice’s 7 Hills Challenge, your fundraising target and how to get started on our blog.