One Stop retailer Priyesh Vekaria (below left) has spoken to Convenience Store about an upcoming charity event to honour the memory of Nila Patel (below right), who tragically passed away earlier this year.
A team of adventurous fundraisers for charity Reuben’s Retreat are currently in training to take on a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in September. Priyesh visited the team earlier this month to discover more about the challenge, and spoke about the plans and learn more about the work they do.
He said: “Reuben’s Retreat is a remarkable charity based in Glossop that supports families who’ve experienced the loss of a child, as well as families whose children are living with medical complexities. What became very clear during our visit is that it’s much more than a building.
“It’s been created as a safe, compassionate environment where families can find support, make memories and have people walk alongside them during circumstances most of us can barely imagine.”
The charity is set to benefit from the efforts of the team preparing to take on the daunting climb, thanks to retailer Nila Patel, who passed away on 2 February at the age of 45 following a brain haemorrhage. She, and her husband Suresh, had dedicated over 23 years to retail.
“Nila wasn’t simply somebody whose memory had later become attached to this challenge…”
Priyesh said: “What struck me most was discovering that Nila wasn’t simply somebody whose memory had later become attached to this challenge - she was supposed to be climbing Kilimanjaro herself.
“Sadly, Nila never got the opportunity to make that journey, so for the people now preparing to climb there’s an incredibly powerful sense that they’re carrying something forward for her.
“For me, that changes the whole meaning of the mountain. They’re not just climbing in Nila’s memory. They’re helping finish a journey she’d already started.”
Cared deeply
Reuben’s Retreat was just one of the organisations Nila chose to support, and she also developed a genuine connection with it. Alongside Awaken Love for Africa, these were causes she cared deeply about, and she had planned to use the Kilimanjaro challenge to raise money and awareness for them.
Priyesh added: “While I wouldn’t want to speak on behalf of Nila’s family on the precise history of their relationship, what came across very clearly during my visit was that this wasn’t a cause selected after her passing - the connection already existed because of Nila herself.”
The challenge takes place from 13 to 19 September, with the team taking on Mount Kilimanjaro and attempting to reach its summit. At the time of writing, the event is just £400 short of its £15k fundraising target. Donations can be made here.
It was also organised around Shree Swaminarayan Mandir Oldham’s anniversary celebrations and its wider commitment to charitable giving. Dr Kershaw’s Hospice is one of the beneficiaries, alongside the causes Nila had personally championed, including the aforementioned Reuben’s Retreat and Awaken Love for Africa.
Hard training
The team taking on the challenge have been training for months, undertaking increasingly demanding walks designed to build their fitness and endurance.
Some of the recent training has involved substantial distance and elevation, including an 18.5km session with more than 1,000 metres of elevation gain, as well as training around locations such as Kinder Downfall between Sheffield and Manchester.
As a result, Priyesh said he was touched by the way in which Nila’s legacy is still very much alive: “Legacy isn’t simply what somebody leaves behind. It’s what they inspire other people to continue.
“Seeing what she’s inspired in so many people has been genuinely humbling…”
“I didn’t have the relationship with Nila that some of these climbers and her loved ones did, so I’d never pretend otherwise. But learning about her, the relationships she forged with these organisations and seeing what she’s inspired in so many people has been genuinely humbling. There’s a powerful lesson in that.”
As a result of the inspiration, Priyesh said his team at One Stop Convenience were keen to now get behind the charity and help in any way they could, including work he plans to reveal shortly.
However, he added that he wasn’t quite ready to join the climbing team himself, concluding: “I have enormous admiration for them, but I think for this one my talents may be better deployed supporting them from considerably closer to sea level!”
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