Buy As You View help scale the heights for Ty Hafan

The life-limited children, young people and their families who rely on Ty Hafan would like to say 'Thanks a Million!' to all those who took part in the recent GEAES Welsh 3Peaks Challenge.

100 teams scaled the three highest mountains in north and south Wales on Saturday, June 12, in just 15 hours – to raise money for Ty Hafan. Now in its 12th year, the GEAES Welsh 3Peaks Challenge has raised an astonishing £1million since the event was first held in 1999.

It is now regarded by many as an established major sporting and corporate event, with participants travelling from as far afield as Germany, France, England and Scotland to accept this challenge.

Starting at 4am, participants set off to climb Snowdon, Wales’ highest peak, then drove a few miles to conquer the awesome Cadair Idris before driving to South Wales to scale Pen y Fan.

The participants covered a total walking distance of 20.35 miles and ascending 9,397ft in just 15 hours.

Since 1999, almost 4,000 people have accepted and completed this mighty challenge, which was established by GEAES in 1999. GEAES have been the driving force behind its continued success ever since and with places booked almost a year in advance, it’s one of the most sought after events on the sporting and corporate calendar.

"It is undoubtedly due to the dedication of the team at GEAES that had made the Welsh 3Peaks Challenge into the event that it is today, attracting teams from overseas as well as different parts of the UK and Wales" said Owain Cassidy, Ty Hafan’s Head of Marketing.

"It is an amazing achievement to have raised over £1million from the event over the years and our sincere thanks go to the organisers and all the teams that have taken part this year and in the past.

"They can all feel justifiably proud of themselves that not only have they succeeded in a personal challenge, but they have also helped to provide comfort, care and support to hundreds of life-limited children, young people and their families across Wales."

To see video / pictures of the event visit www.tyhafan.org

VALE police officers and staff gave up their recent bank holiday weekend to take on the challenge of conquering the three highest mountains in the UK - in just a single day!

A team of 16 men and women – four drivers and a dozen climbers - set off from south Wales in the early hours of Friday morning to travel to Snowdon in north Wales for the first leg of their marathon fundraising effort.

After completing the climb to the 3,307ft summit, they made a swift decent to the minibuses for a four-hour drive to the foot of 2,890ft Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, in the Lake District.

Three hours later, as night had fallen, they returned to the foot of the mountain for a well-earned hot meal ahead of the longest leg of the journey, a six-hour drive through the night to Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.

Arriving at first light they set off for the make-or-break attempt to complete the challenge and beat the 24-hour clock.

Ben Nevis, at 4,093ft above sea level, is Britain’s highest peak and by 7am on Saturday, May 29, after a gruelling two-hour ascent, the first climbers were alone standing higher than anyone else in the land in biting cold, surrounded by snow.

By the time the team returned to the foot of the mountain they had beaten the clock with half an hour to spare.

Sponsorship money raised from the challenge is to be donated to Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice, in Sully, and to Cancer Research Wales.

Inspector Chris Patterson said: “We were delighted to have succeeded in the challenge we set ourselves.

"We didn’t make it easy for ourselves by having to start from Barry police station on the Friday morning! "As well as the physical effort of completing all three climbs within 24 hours we had to get what sleep we could while travelling between peaks.

“Our goal was to raise more than £2,000 and I am confident we will have far exceeded this amount.

“The success was down to a combination of training, preparation and the great support team who backed us up, knowing the route and keeping us supplied with essential meals.

“We are also indebted to a number of businesses whose support made the whole exercise possible," added Insp Patterson. "Our minibuses were provided by Burnt Tree of Treforest, and we had support from Buy As You View, Car Shop, Bully’s restaurant, Homebase, Bentley, Halfords, Landrover, Brecon Carreg, Cost Co, Macro, Argos, Tesco, Homebase, Porsche, B&Q, Curry’s and Comet and Batley’s cash and carry.”

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