AN INTREPID troupe of explorers took on the challenge of a lifetime at the weekend by scaling some of the highest mountains in the UK for Brighter Futures.

Staff from SSE Enterprise Contracting in Dorcan took the ‘Three Peaks Challenge’ and climbed the highest mountain in Scotland, England and Wales – all in the space of 24 hours.

The 11 man team left their Dorcan offices at 10am last Friday and made the 12 hour coach journey to Fort William in north west Scotland to take on their first challenge, Ben Nevis, which stands at more than 4,400ft (1,300m).

After spending the night in a tent, they got up at 5am the next morning and started to climb the UK’s highest mountain at 6am.

It took the team six hours, through gale force winds and heavy rain, to scale Ben Nevis, before getting back into the coach and heading south where their next hurdle – 3,200ft high Scafell Pike in Cumbria – awaited.

They arrived in the Lake District at around 7pm on Saturday night and immediately set off up the mountain, which took two and a half hours to climb.

Kevin Foxworthy, trainee project manager at SSE, said: “The whole weekend went really well, though the weather was awful the entire time.

“Because it was so bad, we decided to take the shortest route up Scafell Pike, but it was also the steepest.”

After that, they headed straight for Wales to climb Mount Snowdon, which stands at 3,560ft (1,085m) above sea level.

“We started to climb Snowdon at 5am on Sunday, just as it was getting light,” said Kevin. “We were looking forward to seeing the sunrise but it was cloudy and miserable, so we couldn’t see much.

“When we got to the top we were met with gale force winds, which made things really difficult.

Although the weather was bad all weekend, there were one or two fine spells.

Kevin said: “About two hours in to the Ben Nevis climb we managed to make it through the clouds and got to see some stunning views of Highlands.

“All in all, everyone has fond memories of it and it was a great team building exercise.

“One guy had to abandon the Scafell climb half way with a knee injury, and someone else had to pull out of Snowden with a similar injury.

“But everyone did really well and I was very impressed. There was no moaning or complaining, people just got on with it.”

Speaking about the radiotherapy appeal, Kevin said: “It’s a very important cause because there are a lot of us who have had family and friends suffer from cancer and who have had to make that journey to Oxford for treatment.

“It is very close to our hearts and is a much-needed thing in Swindon. Brighter futures is a great charity and we want to do what we can to help.”

The team’s initial fundraising target was £3,000, but they are currently well on the way to £4,000.

So far £875,000 has been raised for Brighter Futures, which means we’re still some way off the target. To donate you can send cut out and send in the attached form or log on to www.brighterfuturesgwh.nhs.uk.

To donate to Kevin and the team, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/SSECSwindon3PeaksChallenge.