A GROUP of friends from Maldon have completed the gruelling National Three Peaks Challenge for charity.

The group of four climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England, and Snowdon in Wales.

Ross Walpole, George Barber, Josh Bolding and Liam Whitehead, all 22, have been friends ever since they were classmates at Plume Academy in Maldon.

The group decided to take part in the challenge to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support after George’s mum, June Savill, was diagnosed with the disease.

“It affected all of us,” said Ross. “We are all a really close group of friends, and so it is charity really close to us.”

They completed the challenge in 23 hours and 44 minutes this weekend, raising £2800 for Macmillan in the process.

Ross explained the journey: “It was completely out of our comfort zone. None of us have ever done anything like this before.

“We completed the challenge in a really good time which is great. Although the run down Snowdon at the end was far from fun.

“Scafell Pike in the dark was quite tricky as well. And I think we definitely underestimated Ben Nevis, but we completed it in the end.

“It all feels worth it now. It feels great to be able to look back and say that we have done it.”

The boys set themselves a target of £1,200 when they decided to take on the challenge.

However, after surpassing that in a matter of weeks, and already beating their second target of £2,250, they are now hoping to reach £3,000.

Ross said: “So far we have managed to raise £2,800 which is fantastic. We are really just trying to raise as much as we possibly can now, if we could hit £3,000 that would be great.”

To donate to the Ross, George, Josh and Liam visit http://goo.gl/D48rP5.