'The sky is the limit': Portsdown Hill treasure hunt gains momentum with incredible community backing as Victorious gifts two free tickets
Portsdown Hill is the beating heart of a weekly treasure hunt which has soared to new heights after a mum-of-two turned her dream of bringing families together into a reality.
Courtney Jones spent her childhood exploring all the treasures Portsdown Hill has to offer and, since having children, her fascination with the space has grown, prompting her to launch a free weekly treasure hunt to encourage families to enjoy the outdoors.
In the space of four months, the 28-year-old’s initiative ‘Portsdown Hill Hunt’, has been backed by a long list of businesses and attractions across the city, with the latest support coming from Victorious which gave away two free tickets for an Easter hunt over the weekend.
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The evening hunt for the tickets saw crowds of people searching the hill, with Ellie Welsh discovering the hidden prize and securing her ticket to the music festival this summer.
Courtney said: “Victorious actually reached out to me because they saw the News’s article and said what I’m doing is brilliant so they gave me two tickets. It’s just amazing to see doors opening for me. My page has gone absolutely insane and the feedback from families has been incredible.
“It’s been amazing - This little dream that I had one day is going mad. I cried when Victorious got in touch and now I’ve got Fratton Park tickets, family passes to Southsea Model Village, Spinnaker Tower passes.
“The sky is the limit. I could do this forever and I hope my children look back and say that their mum gave something back to the community. I am just so, so proud of myself as a mum and as a Paulsgrove girl who started from nothing - seeing all of these families come out and explore the hill is just incredible and it’s why I started this.
The treasure hunt takes place every Saturday from 12noon, and each family taking part gets a ziplock bag containing a unique map “made from the heart”, gold chocolate coins and gold Haribo bears to help them on their weekend adventures.