Last weekend (7 November) saw the world premiere of ‘Life of a Mountain Helvellyn’ screened online to an audience of thousands. It marks the culmination of a film trilogy featuring Scafell Pike, Blencathra and now Helvellyn created by filmmaker Terry Abraham, whose latest ‘labour of love’ has been three years in the making.
Capturing the essence of Helvellyn, those living and working in its shadow and those drawn from afar to traverse its iconic slopes, the film is a fitting testament to Terry’s love of the Lake District and as he himself described it when introducing his film at the premiere, ‘His final love letter to the lakes’.
It is in keeping then that the film maker is generously supporting and promoting an online auction to raise funds for two of Cumbria’s iconic charities with close associations with the area, Friends of the Lake District and Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team.
Running throughout November, the online ‘blind’ auction is inviting bids from the public on a number of unique lots donated to the cause. Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team itself is offering an exclusive VIP family tour of its Base, which promises to provide an intimate and rare insight into the selfless work of the Patterdale volunteers.
Chairman of Patterdale Mountain Rescue Association, Chris Sanderson, expressed the Association’s warm thanks for Terry Abraham’s generosity in allowing the Association’s New Land Rover Defender vehicle appeal to be one of the two beneficiaries of ‘The Life of a Mountain: Helvellyn’ première screening:
“We are extremely grateful to Terry for this gesture and privileged to be associated with his film. Helvellyn plays a central part in all our lives at Patterdale Mountain Rescue and his film is a wonderful tribute to an iconic mountain and the people who live around it.”
Douglas Chalmers, Chief Executive at Friends of the Lake District, said: “Once again Terry has shown his generosity by promoting this auction and supporting charities with long standing links to this area. We were proud to welcome Terry as a trustee to Friends of the Lake District, sharing as we do our love of the Cumbrian landscape; and this love is clearly demonstrated in Terry’s latest work.”
The online auction runs throughout November and is inviting bids of a number of lots including signed film posters, a weekend break at Sunnyside Guest House in Keswick and two of the latest Vango tents. The highest bids will be selected at the end of November for each lot item with all proceeds being split between Friends of the Lake District and Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team.
You can view and bid on all of the lots via Friends of the Lake District’s website throughout November at: www.friendsofthelakedistrict.org.uk
