A firm of agricultural advisors has raised £7,000 for charity by climbing three peaks in 24 hours.

CARA Wales Ltd, which is based in Lampeter, originally decided to undertake a fundraiser to celebrate its 15-year anniversary last year, but due to the coronavirus pandemic the fundraiser had to be re-arranged.

The team wanted to fundraise for the Wales Air Ambulance and Tir Dewi due to the fact they’re both important charities to the rural community.

Wales Air Ambulance offers advanced critical care and is often described as a ‘Flying ED’. The on-board consultants and critical care practitioners are highly skilled and carry some of the most pioneering medical equipment in the world. They can deliver blood transfusions, administer anaesthesia and undertake emergency operations at the scene of the incident, before flying the patient directly to specialist care. 

Despite the awful weather conditions a total of ten colleagues completed the whole of the challenge, which saw them climbing Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen y Fan in 24 hours, and a further six joined them for the last peak - Pen y Fan. 

The team left their homes at 1:30am and arrived in Llanberis at 4:45am to start the challenge. They reached the peak of Snowdon by 7am and were back down again by 9am ‘freezing cold and soaking wet’.

Although they were soaking wet they continued with the challenge and travelled to Dolgellau to begin the climb up Cadair Idris. When they reached Dolgellau, the weather was fairly dry but the ‘heavens opened on the way up’. They reach the summit around 1:30pm and were back down by 4pm.

The last leg of the journey saw them travel to the Brecon Beacons to climb Pen y Fan Mountain and despite them experiencing more rain they reached the summit at 8pm.

A delighted Wendy Jenkins of CARA Wales Ltd, said: “We managed to reach the summit of Pen y Fan by 8pm, which was brilliant. Although we were soaking wet again, it was a massive achievement, and we are all ecstatic at reaching the top. 

“We can’t believe that we managed to raise £7,000 in total to split between the two charities and would like to thank everyone for their support and donations.” 

Wales Air Ambulance has four aircraft based across Wales, in Dafen, Caernarfon, Welshpool and Cardiff. 

Now operational 24/7, the Charity needs to raise £8 million every year to keep the helicopters flying.  

Helen Pruett, Wales Air Ambulance Community Fundraiser, said: “We are delighted that CARA Wales Limited chose to raise funds for our Charity, especially during our 20^th anniversary year. The staff should be extremely proud to have raised £7,000 which will be split between two important charities.

“Despite the awful weather they all experienced on the day, they never gave up and continued their impressive three peaks in 24 hours challenge. Thank you all for your support and to everyone who has donated to their fundraiser. You’re all helping save more lives across Wales.”

There are several ways that the public can continue to support the Wales Air Ambulance. These include online donations, signing up to the Charity’s Lifesaving Lottery or by coming up with their own innovative ways to fundraise at home. Further information can be found via www.walesairambulance.com. 

Alternatively, a £5 text-message donation can be made by texting the word HELI to 70711.