SeeAbility Chairman Jack Stacy blogs about the challenge he is taking on for SeeAbility with fellow Trustee Michael Smith. 

With thanks to our sponsors: Revantage Real Estate, Thirdway, Knight Frank LLP, Arthur Cox, Socrates, DLA Piper, Taylor Wessing CMS and HWBC.

This is not your ordinary challenge for charity. This is 24 peaks in 24 hours. It’s an extreme journey that will push us to our limits. This is our story of why we’re doing it and why we need your help to succeed.

I never expected to push my mind and body to these extremes, but in my role as Chairman of disability charity SeeAbility, I have been inspired to challenge what I expect from myself.

The charity and the challenge

SeeAbility, previously known as the Royal School for the Blind, is one of the UK’s oldest disability charities and a leading force for change. Their work alongside people with disabilities encourages them to challenge what they expect from life, from themselves and from society.

To celebrate SeeAbility’s incredible 225th anniversary and to play our part in ensuring their work can continue for years to come, I will be taking on an extreme challenge with my colleague at Revantage Real Estate (a Blackstone Portfolio Company) and soon to be fellow SeeAbility trustee, Michael Smith.

During our 24 peaks in 24 hours challenge, this September, we’ll be covering at least 28 miles, while ascending a total of 12,000ft, or the equivalent of scaling Snowdon three times in a row! 

It’s 12 hours of hiking a day, over two arduous days. No wonder it’s considered one of the UK’s toughest challenges and has an official grading of ‘extreme’! This formidable challenge will see us summit not three, not 10, but 24 mountain peaks in the Lake District, including Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England.

This is personal

But for us there’s an even bigger challenge than simply scaling these peaks – Michael is registered blind, and has very little usable vision, which means I’ll be providing sighted guiding and support the whole way. It will truly be an undertaking that tests our grit, concentration, teamwork and ultimately, our unwavering trust in each other.

For both of us, this is personal. To be honest, it needs to be a deeply personal motivation to make you take on a challenge this immense!

Michael and his family have been profoundly impacted by sight loss. At just 19, Michael and his twin brother both lost the majority of their sight because of a rare disease called Leber’s Optic Neuropathy. Not much is known about what causes it, but it generally happens in the formative years as a young adult, when the impact can be particularly overwhelming.

Michael and his brother both lost their sight very quickly. Both are now registered blind, with less than 10% of usable sight left. Michael’s sight loss forced him to change careers and undergo intensive rehabilitation with support from charities like SeeAbility. He now uses innovative accessible technologies in the workplace to support him to succeed in his role as Principal Legal Counsel at Revantage.

For me too, this challenge is personal. My brother Matty was born at 26 weeks and spent the first four months of his life in an incubator. The oxygen treatment that saved his life unfortunately caused him to lose his sight, and he also has a learning disability that means he has never been able to speak.

I know first-hand how life-changing SeeAbility’s support is, because Matty has been supported by SeeAbility for the last 24 years. SeeAbility meets all of Matty’s complex medical and support needs, while also maximising his potential, allowing him to enjoy his life to the full.

Inspired by the spirit of that ethos, together Michael and I are gearing up for the ultimate test of our teamwork and endurance. Michael has completed several endurance challenges after losing his sight, but this is the most dangerous and gruelling yet. We know this challenge will be an uphill battle in every sense, so we’ve started training together to develop a set of verbal commands to communicate the terrain around us, so Michael can picture it in his head.

More than mountains

We believe passionately that this isn’t just about scaling mountains. This is about challenging what we expect from life. For many people with learning disabilities, autism or sight loss, society expects very little. SeeAbility challenges those expectations and supports hundreds of people like my brother Matty to live in their own homes, lead a life of independence and choice, have ambitions and realise their dreams.

Crucially, they pave the way for a more inclusive society through their awareness raising work. We’re setting ourselves this challenge to reflect and highlight SeeAbility’s ambitious and life-changing work for the last 225 years. We’re raising £100,000 to ensure many more people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss have the opportunity to live, love, thrive and belong.

In 2023 to 2024, SeeAbility’s impact meant that:

• Over 22,000 lives were changed for the better through support teams, specialist programmes and awareness raising work.
• 261 people with learning disabilities and autism were supported in homes and supported living services, some being supported to move out of long stays in hospital.
• 3,254 children were supported with eye care in special schools.
• People supported into paid employment worked 4,223 hours, enabling them to have the independence to save and spend their own money.

Now SeeAbility is facing its own formidable challenge, fuelled by a challenging economy with inflation, rising interest rates and increased living wage. Demands on services like theirs has never been higher. Today there are still 2,000 people living in secure hospitals, who would be far better supported by a charity like SeeAbility in their own home and within an inclusive community.

That's where you come in.

Your support isn't just a donation – it's a lifeline to help people overcome huge barriers every single day. What’s more, it’ll give us the ultimate motivation we’ll need when the going gets tough on that climb.

Donate now and be part of our journey. Help us reach our £100,000 fundraising goal and make a tangible impact on the lives of people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss.

Thank you!

Jack Stacy