25 Sep 2023
Kevin Benstead, our award-winning project manager, has completed a once-in-a-lifetime charity challenge to raise money for mental health and assistive technologies charities.
Kevin, who recently won an NHBC Pride in the Job Quality Award for his work on our Torvean development in Inverness, cycled from the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Kenyan coast before returning to the start to climb Kilimanjaro – at 5,895m the tallest mountain in Africa.
The gruelling challenge was the brainchild of Kevin’s friend and British Paralympic cyclist Karen Darke MBE and the pair were joined on the mountain climb by gold medal-winning Paralympian Steve Bate. Karen ascended the mountain on a specially adapted, hand-pedalled trike with visually impaired Steve riding a customised bike.
The team are raising money for World Jenny’s Day, a charity focussed on supporting mental health, and Voice of Specially Abled People (VOSAP), working to create an inclusive and accessible world.
Kevin said: “I have known Karen for more than ten years and I have joined her on previous charity adventures, such as cycling down the Ganges river in India in 2018, but this challenge took things to a new level.
“Karen is a free spirit, a real person of the moment and as soon as she told me about her plans for this trip, I knew I had to take part.”
Robertson Homes supported Kevin’s adventure, donating £500 to the fund. Kevin has worked for Robertson Homes for six years having relocated to Inverness 16 years ago and was the company’s first ever NHBC Pride in the Job Award winner.
Donations towards Kevin’s ‘Sea to Summit’ adventure can be made via Karen’s fundraising page.
