20-05-2025
Vet practice team takes on gruelling challenge to raise money for charity
STAFF members of a veterinary practice are taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge in celebration of their 25th anniversary.
15 colleagues from Ashlands Veterinary Centre, which has branches in Skipton, Glusburn and Ilkley, will be aiming to climb Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, on June 12.
And while most will be walking and aiming to finish in 12 hours, vets Amy Sansby and Elizabeth Pratt and veterinary nurse Steph Ellis will run the 25 miles, including the 5,200 ascent.
The team is hoping to raise £2,500 to split between the Keighley, Craven and Upper Wharfedale branch of the RSPCA and the Veterinary Benevolent Fund (Vetlife), which gives independent, confidential and free advice to people in the veterinary community.
Ben Ogden, veterinary practice manager, said: 'This is a very special year for us as we are celebrating our 25th anniversary and we will also be opening our new hospital later in 2025, so we wanted to do a big event to mark the occasion.
'Doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge will be a great team bonding opportunity, as well as a chance to have some fun and raise money for two important charities that do so much good work for both animals and members of the veterinary community.
'Even colleagues who aren't taking part have volunteered to be support crew and we will have the practice ambulance parked are various points so we can refuel and have a rest. Some of the team are a little apprehensive but we'll be supporting each other as we always do, and it will be a great achievement.'
Excitement is building over the opening of the new hospital which will be twice the size of its current practice in Ilkley and will boast the latest equipment and technology.
Plans for the site, which is just further along Leeds Road from the existing practice, include five consulting rooms, with one dedicated to cats, three operating theatres including a dedicated dental suite, an ultra-sound suite and x-ray facilities.
The site will also house a CT scanner suite boosting the practice's capability for handling a wider variety of cases, such as orthopaedics, soft tissue issues and tumour analysis.
Investment for the practice is being provided by VetPartners, a York-based veterinary group led by members of the veterinary profession, which owns some of the UK's most respected and trusted small animal, equine, mixed and farm practices, including Ashlands Vets.
To donate to their JustGiving page, go to: or, if you're visiting Ashlands Vets, you can donate through QR codes around the practice
