Visually impaired Wakefield teenager set for Pen-y-Ghent climbing challenge to raise money to buy a minibus for her school

Faith Batchelor, a student at Highfield School on Gawthorpe Lane, aims to raise £150 by climbing Pen-Y-Ghent in the Yorkshire Dales, with her mum and stepdad, which will go towards purchasing a minibus with wheelchair access to help transport children around.

Her mum, Natalie Bailey, and her partner, Adam Whittell, are keen hikers, but Faith hasn’t tackled a climb like this before.

Faith was born at 29 weeks and was given a 5 per cent chance of survival by her doctors when she was born.

She has multiple disabilities, including visual impairment, speech, language, and mental age delay, severe learning difficulties and mild albinism, and will be using a white cane during the climbing challenge.

Her mum, Natalie, said: “The school is in need of a minibus with wheelchair access to transport some of the children. We raised some money for it last year, but the fundraising is still ongoing.

"As I often climb mountains, I asked Faith if she would like to join me to help raise money.

“After changing her mind a few times, Faith decided she wanted to do it. We agreed on Pen-y-Ghent because it is probably the most appropriate mountain in the Yorkshire Dales for her to climb – we didn’t want it to be too difficult with her visual impairment, but we also want it to be a challenge and not be too easy!”

Faith, Natalie and Adam are set to tackle the climb on Saturday, May 6.

Natalie added: “Faith is a bit nervous, but we are looking forward to it overall. She uses a white cane but she is quite energetic and petite, so she has that on her side.”

Faith will be staying on at sixth form at her school until she is 19.

Highfield is a special school for young people age 11 to 19 with severe learning difficulties, with many students having additional needs such as autism, speech and language difficulties, hearing or visual impairments, social emotional and mental health needs and physical difficulties.

To donate to Faith’s online fundraiser, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/natalie-bailey-715?utm_term=Z6NEXzd63