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A group of old Ipswich schoolfriends are facing three peaks in 24 hours in memory of a beloved mum who passed away with a brain tumour.
Matt Smith, Jordan Bloomfield, Elliott Hall, Danny Paterson, all 27, and Cameron Gilmore, 26, will be taking part in the national Three Peaks challenge this weekend.
The charity challenge will take place in memory of Mr Smith's mum Helen, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 60.
Mr Smith, who works at Mediterranean Shipping Company in Ipswich, said: "It started with us wanting to climb a mountain and we found out about the three peaks challenge, and the boys were kind enough to let me do it for Brain Tumour Research.
Helen passed away in 2020 at the age of 60. (Image: Contributed)
"The charity has also reached out for me and provided T-shirts and banners. It was originally just friends and family but so many people have been in touch and donated.
"We've never done anything like this before. We are complete amateurs. We've been training by going on really long walks for hours, which we hope is enough."
Matt Smith, 27. (Image: Contributed)
Jordan Bloomfield, 27. (Image: Contributed)
Danny Paterson, 27. (Image: Contributed)
The group will be leaving at 6am on Thursday to make the drive up to Scotland in a minibus, waking early on Friday morning to scale Ben Nevis, and then travelling to Scafell Pike and Snowdon.
The challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks - Snowdon in Wales at 1085m, Scafell Pike in England at 978m and Ben Nevis in Scotland at 1345m.
The group met at Copleston High School and have raised more than £3,000 for the charity.
Elliott Hall, 27. (Image: Contributed)
Cameron Gilmore, 26. (Image: Contributed)
Mr Smith added: "We're all ready to go and feeling good about it. We're all buzzing in the group chat.
"My mum passed away in July 2020. It was lockdown, so having to deal with that at the time was a rough time."
Brain tumours are responsible for the deaths of more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, but the condition receives just 1% of the national spend on cancer research.