Sean scales Snowdon in bar mitzvah year to raise £3k for Camp Simcha

A London schoolboy has has climbed one of Britain’s highest peaks to raise more than £3,200 for a Jewish charity supporting poorly children as part of his bar mitzvah year celebrations.

Sean Young, who celebrated his bar mitzvah in September, shlepped 1,085m up to the top of Mount Snowdon in Wales to help raise money for Camp Simcha.

His father James said Sean – a pupil at UCS in Hampstead – was just following in the footsteps of his three older siblings, who all chose to help the charity at the same age, albeit none of the others chose to scale a mountain in doing so.

“The idea came about two months ago,” said Sean’s dad. “I’m Swiss so I like mountains. We looked up the highest mountains in Britain and came up with Mt. Snowdon.”

While Sean enjoys sports such as tennis, basketball, football and skiing, he had never undertaken this kind of feat. His father said: “It was challenging on the way up but we were lucky to have blue skies, which made it enjoyable and a good way to spend time together raising money for Camp Simcha.”

The family are members of Brondesbury Park synagogue and are known for their sporting prowess in fields such as tennis, basketball, football, and skiing, but James said the Snowdon foray was far from easy.

“It was challenging on the way up, but we were lucky to have blue skies, which made it enjoyable and a good way to spend time together raising money for Camp Simcha,” he said.

“We’ve been quite connected to Camp Simcha for a long time. My nephew has muscular dystrophy. He and his family were supported by Camp Simcha, twice going to camp in America. “We think it’s just a great charity and one that really makes a difference to children and their families.”