An adventurous young woman bombed at 100mph down the longest zip wire in Europe in to raise cash for a stroke charity.
Daredevil Alys Griffiths, who conducts musical workshops for residents at Pendine Park care organisation, Wrexham, soared for a mile through the air at 500ft above the water at Zip World in Bethesda in aid of the Stroke Association.
Alys, 22, raised over £200, but is hoping to have raised over £300 after all of the money has been collected.
She was joined by over 60 other brave souls who were raising money for the Stroke Association – some of whom came from as far afield as Telford and Shrewsbury.
Alys said: “The view from the top was incredible. It was amazing. You were almost too busy admiring the view to realise you were actually flying through the air. You were literally just flying. It was over very quickly.
“We did the smaller zip wire first which was a nice way to ease into it.
“But there was a bit where you had to pull your hands off, which was a bit scary. You just have to let go and hang there. You could hear them taking the safety off.
“It was pretty windy up there. You get taken up to the top in army trucks. The ride to the top in the truck was bumpy. That was a bit unnerving.
“On the way to the top we got the whole history of Penrhyn Castle. It was interesting stuff, about the miners and strikes.
“Zip World is a great attraction to have in North Wales. It’s something that I’m doing again because my dad wants to. I’m already signed up to go again at the end of February.
“The Stroke Association is a really worthwhile charity to do it for because they provide so much support to not only stroke survivors but their families as well.
“They’re doing a lot of research into why strokes happen, and how people can be helped in recovery.”
Every year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke – that’s one person every five minutes. Most people affected are over 65 but anyone can have a stroke, including children and even babies.
Alys team up with Pendine Park activities manager Gerry Humphries to go on the massive zip wire.
But Gerry unfortunately had to pull out due to illness.
Helping people who have suffered from strokes is a cause close to Gerry’s heart.
She said: “A stroke can affect people’s day to day living. People can become disabled through a stroke. They may lose part of their memory, their speech, their ability to walk. We deal with people at Pendine Park who have had strokes, and there’s a varying degree of severity.
“We found out about it by receiving a letter one morning. It had flyer saying about the zip wire challenge to raise money for the Stroke Association
Gerry believes giving residents the opportunity to take part in activities is an essential part of taking care of them.
She said: “My belief is that somebody who happens to be in a care setting, their social life shouldn’t end just because they’re being looked after by someone else. Whatever they want to do while they’re here, we try to accommodate.”
“Pendine Park is a place that attracts community minded people to work.”
Alys, who completed a degree in Psychology at Bangor University in 2011, has loved every minute of working at Pendine Park. The grade eight piano and saxophone player said: “I love being here. I just love going round and seeing all of the different residents every day.
“I’ve been running the music workshop, and just seeing the residents enjoy themselves and really coming out of themselves and dancing around the room has been great.
“You can clearly see that they’re having fun.
“I started playing the piano when I was seven. So for as long as I can remember really music has been a big part of my daily life.
“It’s nice to be able to share that with other people, and to be able to use it to help other people to enjoy themselves.”
To donate please visit www.justgiving.com/pendinezipwire and for more information on the Stroke Association please visit www.stroke.org.uk.
