Friends and family of an Abergavenny man who passed away recently have raised over £4,000 for St David’s Hospice by completing the Abergavenny Three Peaks challenge this weekend.

Paramedic David Barrell decided to fundraise in memory of his father Gary Barrell who died in May following a battle with cancer, raising money for St David’s Hospice in Newport where Gary was cared for.

Following the excellent care and support provided by staff at St David’s Hospice, Gary’s family wanted to do something to show their gratitude so David decided to embark on the Three Peaks challenge raising money for the Hospice.

David was further inspired to start fundraising by his mother, who is also a keen fundraiser having travelled the world undertaking several challenges including a charity walk in Peru.

Speaking to the Chronicle, David said: “As a family we were so grateful to staff at St David’s Hospice in Newport for the care and treatment they gave my father, we simply could not fault staff who went above and beyond to make sure that Dad was comfortable and that we as a family were being looked after and supported.

“We wanted to do something to show how much this support meant to us and decided that raising money by walking the Three Peaks in Abergavenny was a great way to gather people’s support and fundraise.”

After creating an online fundraising page for the challenge three weeks ago, David was joined on Saturday September 3 by his brother Gary and other friends and family as they set off early on Saturday morning from Abergavenny to complete their walking challenge.

After completing their first climb up the Blorenge mountain at around 10am, the group continued by walking up the Sugar Loaf before completing their challenge with a walk up the Skirrid.

In total the group completed their walk - covering 36.34km and a total elevation of 1,490 metres – in seven hours and 36 minutes.

Friends and family who were unable to take part in the challenge met the group atop the Skirrid to cheer them on and celebrate with them.

Having raised over £3,200 from their online fundraising page and received another £1,000 in cash donations, David and the group have successfully manged to raise £4,275 for St David’s Hospice.

David is planning on keeping the fundraising page open for the rest of September, for anyone who would still like to donate.

Following the challenge, David said: “We are absolutely delighted to have raised so much money for St David’s Hospice and would like to thank everyone who has donated for their kind and generous support. I would also like to say a big thank you to everyone who accompanied me and Gary on the walk, we couldn’t have done it without you and are so grateful for your support and encouragement.”

For those still interested in donating, please visit the fundraising page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/garybarrell