Climbers from Broughton Gifford hit their target (From Wiltshire Times)

Climbers from Broughton Gifford hit their target

12:00pm Monday 26th July 2010

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A team of fundraisers from Broughton Gifford has raised £6,000 for two charities by completing the Three Peaks Challenge.

The team scaled the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales within 24 hours over June 19 and 20 to raise the money for Broughton Gifford Pre-school and Dorothy House Hospice.

They were waved off on their adventure by the pre-school’s children, before making their way up to Scotland to start at Ben Nevis.

Eight climbers and three support drivers took part in the challenge, although unfortunately one had to pull out after twisting his knee ascending Scafell Pike. The team finished the event in 23 hours and 21 minutes after choosing a longer route down Snowdon to accommodate a second member of the party who had sustained an injury.

Climber Christian Key, whose three-year-old daughter Amy attends Broughton Gifford Pre-school, said: “We had fantastic weather all weekend and were blessed with stunning views off the top of all three peaks which is incredibly lucky.

“It was pretty tough, we knew it was going to be hard but you can’t really prepare for the actual thing. People found it hard, and unfortunately we had a couple of injuries. When we got to the peak of Snowdon it was quite emotional, I think a few of us were choked up. We were absolutely shattered, and realised we had to climb all the way back down!”

The climbers have so far raised £6,000 for their efforts, which will be split between the two charities. They are hoping that when all the money is in the total will be almost £7,000. This includes £1,500 from Barclay’s Bank that Mr Key’s sister Charlotte, a small business manager, was able to secure.

Mr Key said: “It’s absolutely brilliant, we’ve had a brilliant response from everyone we’ve approached. We’d like to say thank you to everyone who has sponsored us and helped us out, in particular Charlotte and Barclay’s, and Tug and Salvage who supplied the van. It’s been a real community challenge."

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