A Brecon fundraising star who has been appointed a British Empire Medal for his incredible efforts said the “humbling” recognition is for everybody who is involved with the charities he supports.

Des Lally was one of a few Powys residents who started 2022 with a bang after being named in the New Year’s Honours list published on New Year’s Eve.

The 46-year-old community hero is known around the market town for his various fundraising antics in recent years.

Des notably braved all types of weather from blizzards and high winds to heatwaves as he scaled Pen y Fan - the second highest peak in Wales - a whopping 365 times in a year back in 2019 raising £50,000 for Help for Heroes and Cancer Research UK.

To raise more money for the military charity which helps injured or unwell members of the armed forces, as well as Cancer Research UK, Des most recently climbed five mountains in five countries over three days back in August last year.

Des told The Brecon & Radnor Express he had received a letter to say he had been “recommended” back towards the end of November, but he didn’t know would actually be receiving the award until the list was published over the New Year.

He said: “It was really humbling and, like I’ve said many times since finding out, it’s not about me although I’m the one who has been awarded, it’s about the people and their families who have cancer or who’ve had cancer and those people who’ve gone through serious in the armed forces - it’s about all of them really. It’s not about me, it’s about those people.”

The mortgage broker can also be seen working at the fish and chip shop which belongs to his parents - Desmond and Anne Lally -Watergate Fish Bar, which overlooks Llanfaes Bridge, and most recently donated free meals to Brecon residents who would be on their own on Christmas Day.

Des, who defeated the five peaks in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales across three days, has previously mentioned that both of the charities mean a lot to him as his parents have both battled cancer, and his father spent 26 years in the Irish Guards.

When asked if he was shocked to receive the recognition, Des responded “absolutely”.

He said: “At the end of the day, everything I do is for these people who have cancer and those people who have suffered injuries through service in the armed force.

“It’s also for the charities that help these people so that they can continue to help people because without the fundraising and raising awareness, it doesn’t happen.

“Even though it’s a very humbling honour, and it’s a surprise and it’s overwhelming, at the end of the day it’s about these people and their families and the charities who help them.”

Des, who described the community reaction as “amazing”, went onto say that it was also for the community that helps to spread the word and make his fundraising possible.

”The community are the ones that make these things happen without friends or families or the community or these people donating or these people sharing it on social media and spreading the word, these organisations and the people who need their help - it wouldn’t happen.

“Although, it’s me who’s been awarded, it is for the people and the organisations that help these people but without the community it wouldn’t happen anyway. The community are very much a part of it as well.

"It is very humbling and it is one of those things - it’s an amazing thing to happen but it’s about the people you do it for.

“The reason I put it on social media was not for the sake of to tell people that I had it but, I thought if I put it on social media, it will continue to raise awareness for these charities and somebody might see it and think ‘you know what, I might donate to one of those charities’.

“It’s just trying to do keep the wheels turning so that the charities and the people they benefit can continuing doing what they need to do to help the people out there.”

Des explained that while those on the New Years Honours list are usually recognised at a local ceremony with the Lord Lieutenant of Powys, Mrs Tia C Jones, followed by a garden party at Buckingham Palace, it is uncertain this year due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Also recognised in the Honours List are John Davies of Brecon and Crickhowell’s Kate Mavor.

John Davies is co-founder and chair of Cyber Wales and receives an MBE for services to the UK cyber ecosystem.

Kate Mavor, chief executive of the English Heritage Trust becomes a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to heritage.

She was formerly the chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland and was previously awarded a Doctor of the University degree by Heriot-Watt University “in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the promotion and preservation of Scotland’s environmental heritage and to developments in the community volunteer movement” and was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College, Oxford.