WH Smith staff fundraise by tackling Three Peaks

A team of WH Smith employees, including fiction buyer Kate Escott and head of books promotions Alex Call, is raising money to promote literacy in the UK by taking on the Three Peaks Challenge.

The team has also enlisted the support of crime writer Peter James to help reach a £60,000 target. James has offered up the name of a victim in one of his future novels for auction in support of WH Smith team "The Peak Seekers"'.

The team is tackling the Three Peaks challenge today (Friday 16th September). "The Peak Seekers" is made up of six walkers, including Call, Escott and commercial director Phil McNally, who are attempting to climb the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales, Ben Nevis (1,344m), Scafell Pike (978m) and Snowdon (1,085m), in under 24 hours. The total challenge is 27 miles of walking and a climb of 9,000 feet.

A further five teams of six people across both WH Smiths' High Street and Travel businesses are taking part in the challenge, with the goal of raising £10,000 per team to meet a combined £60,000 in total. They are "The WHS Group Team", "Paul Tavener’s Team", "A Can Do Altitude", "Travel Stores", and "Not So Stationery". The latter includes head of fiction Alastair Aldous and c.e.o. Stephen Clarke.

Meanwhile the Peter James character auction will run until 5pm next Wednesday (21st September).

Proceeds will be donated to Save The Children and the W H Smith Trust, which works closely with the National Literacy Trust.

Supporters can sponsor the teams or place a bid to name the next murder victim in a future Roy Grace novel here.