Go Ape go bananas for Teenage Cancer

Staff at Go Ape throughout the UK, including Haldon Forest near Exeter, went bananas to support Teenage Cancer Trust, raising a grand total of £60,000 for the charity.

Go Ape is the UK’s leading forest adventure and staff from the 28 sites across the country devised the ‘Big Banana Relay’ to raise much-needed funds for the charity. The relay consisted of a ‘Big Banana’ being transported  a total of 1,823 miles across the UK with the Go Ape gorillas using the quirkiest forms of travel possible.

The relay got underway at Leeds Castle in June and the ‘Big Banana’ travelled to each of the Go Ape UK sites finishing up in Trent Park at the end of October.

Dressed as gorillas, the Go Ape team visited some of the UK’s most popular landmarks with the Big Banana in tow for each leg of the journey. The Go Ape tribe managed to use more than 40 different modes of transport, including breaking the world record for the longest distance space hopped and a trip into space.

The Haldon Forest tribe took the giant inflatable banana on a hot air ballooning adventure to reach its next destination on the relay route of Go Ape Margam Country Park near Swansea.

Rebecca Mayhew, Co-Founder and Director of Go Ape, said: “We are proud to support Teenage Cancer Trust and delighted that our Go Ape Team has managed to raise £60,000 for such an important cause.  The #BigBananaRelay managed to travel an impressive total of 1,823 miles around our Go Ape locations in the UK.

“It’s been amazing to see all the different modes of travel used for each leg of the journey and it's great that the Go Ape tribe have completed this epic task for such an important charity.”

Kate Collins, Director of Fundraising at Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “We want to say a huge thank you to staff at Go Ape for their incredible fundraising efforts and all the amazing creativity involved in the Big Banana Relay. We rely on donations to fund our vital work and the money raised will help support young people with cancer and their families locally and across the UK.”

Teenage Cancer Trust has been selected by Go Ape staff as its main charity for 2014.  Go Ape was raising funds to help build more Teenage Cancer Trust units in NHS hospitals, maintain existing ones, fund specialist nursing and youth support staff and support the free cancer awareness sessions that are delivered in schools, colleges and universities across the UK.

For further information about Go Ape visit www.goape.co.uk