Saturday 4 February 2012
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Bingo enthusiasts take to Everest for world's highest ever game
14 October 2009
A group of die hard bingo lovers are currently in training to prepare for the world’s toughest game of bingo – at 17,500 ft.
24 dedicated bingo enthusiasts will tackle Everest, dabber in hand, in an attempt to smash the record for the World’s Highest Game of Bingo. The intrepid trekkers will face dehydration, altitude sickness and deep vein thrombosis as they take part in a bingo pilgrimage to Everest’s Base Camp – not to mention frostbitten fingers and toes. The trek to play the World’s Highest Game of Bingo will commence at Lukla on October 19 and finish at Everest Base Camp on October 24.
The plucky trekkers - made up of Gala Coral employees from all over the country - have been preparing for the toughest bingo game of their life by engaging in gruelling training sessions closer to home to ensure they are well prepared for the rigours of playing bingo at 17,500 ft.
The extraordinary challenge is part of a fundraising effort for Gala Coral’s nominated charity, Sue Ryder. The team hope by scaling the world’s toughest mountain and setting a new world record for playing bingo at altitude they can smash their goal of raising £100,000 for the charity. Staff from across Gala Coral have so far raised an incredible £750,000 for Sue Ryder and are well on their way to reaching their target of £1million by the end of 2009.
As well as long distance running and hill walking, Gala Coral team members have been familiarising themselves with high attitude bingo games by practising atop landmarks in their home towns – from the Blackpool Tower (540 ft) to the Gherkin in London (590 ft) and the Beetham Tower in Birmingham (520 ft).
And to guard against the approximate 30% drop in mental agility caused by being at high altitudes, the team have also been sharpening their number dabbing skills by playing double-quick games at their local Gala Bingo clubs.
The Everest trek is just one of a number of ongoing initiatives by the Gala Coral Group in a bid to raise £1 million by 2010 for Sue Ryder, which provides end of life and long term care to people living with conditions including cancer, multiple sclerosis, stroke and Huntington's Disease.
For more information and to sponsor the trekkers visit www.galacoraleveresttrek.co.uk