Not many people can claim to have climbed each and every one of the 138 Welsh mountains, but Brecon Rotarian Andrew Wakley recently completed this and in so doing raised a staggering £14,383 for his four chosen charities, St David’s Hospice Care, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK, and Cancer Research Cymru.

Following his wife’s death last year from metastatic breast cancer, Andrew decided to raise charitable monies in her memory, in appreciation of the wonderful medical and palliative care she received. He started “walking to help fight cancer” in June 2015 and finished by climbing Pen y Fan last month on his wife’s birthday, March 20, along with many friends and family members.

On the eve of the final climb, a fund raising dinner in aid of St David’s Hospice Care/Usk House was held in the Castle of Brecon Hotel. Well over a hundred friends, family members and fellow Rotarians attended the dinner and contributed generously to the raffle and auction, which was run by Gareth Griffiths from Clee, Tompkinson and Francis.

An entertaining after dinner speech was given by Gary Halpin, a retired Irish rugby international and world championship hammer thrower who is currently a member of staff at Christ College, Brecon. The evening raised over £6,500 and this, together with other donations received for the hospice, made a grand total of £10,054, all of which will be used to care for patients and their families in the Brecon area.

For anyone who would like to contribute to Andrew’s fundraising, his Justgiving page online is still open to receive donations https://www.justgiving.com/teams/walkingtohelpfightcancer