A GROUP of firefighters have raised more than £2,500 for a cancer charity after climbing Snowdon three times in less than 24 hours.

Peter Bullen, Sam Marshall, Mike Jones, Ben Kirkpatrick, Mark Bowcock all completed the walks, and were assisted by Mike Palmer and Andy Marchbank.

All of them are based at Manchester Airport, while Mike Jones is also a retained firefighter at Prestatyn.

The group took on three different routes, starting at 10.30pm on Tuesday, September 7, in aid of Maggie’s, a non-profit organisation offering the best possible free support to anyone with cancer and their families.

The team also wore full fire kit and carried breathing apparatus (BA) on their backs while embarking on the walks of the Llanberis Path, the Pyg Track and the Miners’ Track, and completed the challenge in an impressive 21 hours.

Mark said: “We anticipated about 22 hours depending on how tired we got and the weather.

“We raised a bit of money while we were up there; people were donating and asking for the link, so I think we raised about £100 on the day.

"We took a ladder up Snowdon three years ago; that was hard in full fire kit, but this was even harder because it was full fire kit and a BA suit. They weigh about 22 kilograms. This was our hardest challenge by far.

“The first one in the night (Llanberis Path) was great, at the top of Snowdon in the middle of the night seeing all the stars; it was so clear. The third one was the hardest because it was really warm; it was a struggle, but in the end we did it.”

This was the latest in a series of fundraisers the group have done in aid of Maggie’s, a charity Mike said is especially ‘close to some of our hearts’ with some of them having lost friends or family members to cancer in the past.

The group will also be involved in raising money at ‘Maggie’s on the Runway’; a charity event at Concorde Catwalk at Manchester Airport on Saturday, October 16 where all models will either be living with or have been affected by cancer in their lives.

You can still add to their fundraising total from the Snowdon trek by visiting: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mafrs.