Gabi Spiro's Hyrox Fundraiser for Company Three

At the end of November, me and my brilliant colleague Nuna Sandy will be completing the HYROX Women’s Doubles event. HYROX is a crossfit event which involves 10 intensive exercises (like pushing a 102 kg sled for 50 metres, or throwing a 4 kg ball up for 3m x 100 times) followed by 8x 1km runs. It takes about 2 hrs to complete and is really hard – both a physical and mental challenge, and unlike anything either of us have ever done before. We’re doing it to raise money for Company Three, where we both work and where we both love, specifically so we can go on a Summer Residential in 2025. C3 is a youth theatre charity, led by the ideas of our members and leading change for teenagers locally and globally. We work long-term and weekly with our core company of 95 young people – learning new skills and confidence, creating brand new shows, films and podcasts, going on theatre trips and an annual week-long residential. We work on satellite projects at almost all the secondary schools in Islington. We think that in a society where youth centres and spaces are disappearing, and creativity and self-expression are undervalued and underfunded, spaces like C3 are more important than ever. We think that youth theatre is a place of community radical art and social change, a place to listen to and value teenagers. At Company Three, we have three rules: Be Kind, Be Brave, and Be Yourself. They guide everything that we do. We’re always telling our young people to be brave, and that most challenges are mental, and that teamwork and playing to your strengths is important – all things Nuna and I will need to do to make it through Hyrox. Every Summer at Company Three, we take our young people on a week-long residential. It’s a space to live, work, eat and hang out together, as a company. We make theatre, draw out new creative ideas to explore over the next year, and all get a break from normal life and a mini-holiday together. It’s one of the most special moments of the year and is something our young people tell us over and over again is their favourite part of being a C3 member. We’re also growing as a company under Nuna’s artistic leadership – we now work with over 90 young people on a regular basis. As a charity, we try to remove some of the barriers that prevent some young people attending sessions and residential, and work hard to ensure that our residential is free and open to everyone. Support us by donating to the C3 Residential Hyrox fundraiser. In the past, a residential with 45 young people has cost Company Three £15,000. Now that the size of our company has increased so has the cost of the trip, including: Accommodation and food £22,400 Travel £3500 Equipment/ games £200 Day staff £3800 Night staff £3800 Hot chocolate, whipped cream and marshmallows £20 Extra snacks £300 Ice packs £50 Any amount, no matter how big or small, that you could donate to support us to complete Hyrox and go towards C3’s 2025 residential will be hugely appreciated.