A TRIO of good pals are to tackle the Yorkshire three peaks challenge on Saturday, to help raise cash and awareness for a group supporting men with mental health problems.
Friends Jack Whitbread, Adam Wheeler and Josh MacDonald, all from Barnard Castle, decided to test themselves by signing up to for the challenge – a 25-mile hike summiting the peaks of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, all within 12 hours, while at the same time raising much needed cash and awareness ManHealth in the process.
Mr Whitbread, a network engineer with Yorkshire Water, said: “It’s going to be a challenge but I’m really looking forward to it.
“Adam has plenty of hiking experience but Josh and I have only really been doing it for the past seven weeks, so we’ve been training hard.”
He added: “I was always going to do the challenge but Adam said why not do it for charity and a lot of people I know have struggled with their mental health.
“It is a massive topic at the moment.”
Initially they set themselves a target of raising £500, but surpassed that amount only two days after launching their appeal and are now hoping to pull in £1,000 from their charity trek.
Mr Whitbread said: “We managed to raise £835 in two days, which is amazing. Originally, we set a target of £500, but we surpassed that in 12 hours, so we raised it to £750, and have surpassed that, so if we can get over £1,000 it would be amazing.”
He added: “We all know a man in our life who may have struggled with mental health or are still struggling right now. A lot of them don’t know how to speak about it, but talking really does help.
“ManHealth is working hard to get rid of the stigmas that men can’t talk about their problems and we wanted to support the charity and the work it is doing.”
Anyone wishing to donate can do so at their dedicated online fundraising site – visit https://bit.ly/3buwKjD
