Snowdon ascent in memory of Telegraph colleague David Neal
TEN Grimsby Telegraph employees have conquered Mount Snowdon in memory of a former colleague.
The Telegraph Ten trekked to the summit of the highest mountain in Wales and have so far raised more than £2,700 for the British Heart Foundation.
The charity challenge was in honour of David Neal, 64, who died following a heart attack earlier this year.
Mr Neal was a popular motors advertisement representative and worked for the newspaper for more than 30 years.
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The team – made up of Mark Price, Craig Smith, Lee Hilton, Jayne Batram, Rachel Butters, Katie Gashi, Sam Wright, Aly Jobber, Malcolm Barnard and Emily Riseborough – reached the top of the mountain in three hours, before completing the descent in two-and-a-half hours.
Mr Price, the managing director of the Telegraph, said "We were all devastated at the news of David's untimely death.
"Given David's love of the mountains – Snowdon being the very first he ever climbed – and the nature of his death, the sponsored walk for the British Heart Foundation by the 10 members of staff from GSMG seemed absolutely the right thing to do. I'm so proud of the team's achievement. There were varying levels of fitness and preparation within the team, but collectively we pulled each other through.
"The going was much tougher than any one of us had expected.
"When we reached the summit some 1,085 metres up, we held a minute's silence for us all to remember David in our own way.
"It was very emotional, but I think David would have been looking down and smiling on us all."
Mr Barnard, the Telegraph's property advertising manager, said: "The walk was a fantastic experience and something that will live long in the memory of everybody involved.
"We all wore T-shirts with David's photograph on and it was lovely to think that we managed to get David to the summit of Snowdon one last time.
"David's family had recently scattered his ashes at the summit, so it seemed fitting that his 'work' family were able to reach a place that meant so much to David.
"We are now very close to reaching our revised fundraising target of £3,000, which is fantastic and shows the high regard that David was held in by so many people.
"The support for the challenge, and the British Heart Foundation, will hopefully change the lives of others unfortunate enough to suffer from heart problems."
The team thanked all clients with the Scunthorpe and Grimsby Telegraph for their support, as well as colleagues, family and friends.
Donations are still being collected. Visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/telegraph10
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