Hope Valley College hosts adventure films and family activities

Hope Valley Adventure Film Festival will take place on Saturday, March 25, offering thrilling spectacles on the big screen and family-friendly activities.

Taking place at Hope Valley College, all money raised on the day will go towards equipment and facilities for the pupils.

Festival co-organiser Matt Heason says, "This is the eleventh year of the only film festival to take place in the adventurer's paradise that is the Peak District National Park, and we are going from strength to strength. The festival is the perfect day out for families and adventure lovers alike. It's certainly great to be back post Covid."

Films being shown at the festival include the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival People's Choice and Grand Prize Winner, Free to Run, a mission to tell the stories of women using sport to transform the world around them. When the Taliban takes over Afghanistan threatening the basic human rights of women across the country, UN human rights attorney and mountain runner Stephanie Case must fight to find a way forward for the Afghan women of her NGO, Free to Run, in the midst of taking on the longest and hardest ultra trail race of her life.

The programme features 20 films ranging from three minutes to 39 minutes in length and include expeditions through remote landscapes, the British Bouldering Championships 2022, a father’s attempt to break five world records by paddleboarding around mainland Britain and ice baths in the garden during the Covid pandemic.

A highlight of the 2023 festival will be an evening meal and event with Nicky Spinks, the British long-distance runner, specialising in fell running, who held the women's records for all three major fell running challenges simultaneously until 2016. Nicky will be speaking about entering the Barkley Marathons for the second time, an event held in the spring each year in Tennessee at Frozen Head State Park. The organisers throw in many obstacles, both mentally and physically, to prevent runners from finishing. Since its inauguration in 1986, only 15 runners have finished. No woman has ever completed the 100- mile run which takes over two days.

Activities during the festival will include a have-a-go Olympic format climbing competition. There will be bikes to try out on the pump track and visitors should bring their own cycle helmet.

A raffle will include prizes such as instructor led fly fishing, mountain biking and theme parking; adventurous activities like outdoor swimming, bouldering and climbing; adventuring equipment and kit; therapy sessions to ease those adventurer aches and pains; and food and drink prizes from local businesses.

Gaynor Jones, principal at Hope Valley College,, said: "The Adventure Film Festival is a great event for Hope Valley College. Not only does it raise vital funds to support our students and their learning, it is also a wonderful occasion when the school is full of people enjoying themselves, watching the films and participating in physical activity indoors and outdoors in our stunning Peak District surroundings."

Tickets are available from www.hvaff.co.uk