Abseilers take the plunge from top of Meadowhall dome

For only the second time in Meadowhall's history, abseilers were allowed onto the shopping centre's iconic dome to raise money for charity.

Centre director Darren Pearce and Claire Rintoul, chief executive of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice, took the plunge and abseiled the 94.5ft drop to raise cash for the Rotherham-based hospice.

The ‘Leap of Faith’ was agreed to coincide with Leap Year.

The proposal got the go-ahead as a celebration of Bluebell Wood being named as Meadowhall’s charity of the year for 2016 and 2017.

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Darren, who oversees the Meadowhall Charity Support Committee, said: “I’m more used to looking up at the dome than looking down from it but it got our new charity partnership off to a flying start.”

Claire, from the hospice, said: “I am so pleased to be kick-starting the fundraising for this brilliant charity of the year partnership with Meadowhall.

“Our supporters do lots of amazing things raise money for us and it’s great for me to challenge myself for the cause too. I see first-hand what a difference our charity makes to the lives of hundreds of children and their families.”  

On Tuesday, March 9 a drop off point will be set up on the orange zone car park, near Argos, for shoppers and shopping centre staff to drop off items to be sold in Bluebell Wood charity shops.

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Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice currently supports around 250 families across the region.

It costs more than £4 million a year to operate the hospice and its support services.

To help boost the amount Darren and Claire raised through their abseil visit https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/clairerintoul4