'Very proud' Blyth mum after son and his friends raise £2,000 for charity by completing the Three Peaks Challenge

Owen Meggison, Lewis Beadling, Josh Leddy, Jamie Harwood, Billy Johnston, Daniel Hopper, Jithin Baiju, Cole Donaldson and Will Courtney completed the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in the Lake District, and Snowdon in Wales within one day.

This involved the group, aged between 20 and 22, hiking 23 miles with a total ascent of 3064 metres, as well as driving 462 miles.

Proud Mum Deanne Meggison said: “We are very proud of them. It is just a good group of lads. They all look after each other and have supported each other.

“I have known them all since my son was at primary school. When you see when they were just five or six years old, and they are now in their 20s, having known them all this time, and they are taking on that sort of thing, the big responsibility and the camaraderie of it all.

“It was great to see and hear about.”

The group of childhood friends had started going out walking together at the beginning of the year and decided to give the mammoth challenge a go for charity.

They achieved the challenge in 23 hours and 11 minutes, despite a 45 minute detour caused by a closed road, and have raised over £2,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Deanne said: “I just felt it was a really good story to share. A lot of young lads get a bit of bad press and this just shows there are some good young men around, especially in our local area.”

The lads planned to drive themselves between the peaks, but in the end got some parental help.

Deanne said: “When we found out about it we said there is no way that they can do that. There is too much pressure on the driving, and everyone is tired.

“My husband has done cycling where they have had a support driver, so he said we would get a minibus and he did all the driving.”