A NORTHWICH football coach and shop owner has inspired lifelong friends to take on a series of daunting challenges.
Scott Fullwood was joined by 25 mates as they set about tackling two dozen peaks in as many hours in memory of his father.
Bob Fullwood passed away three years ago aged 69 following a short battle with cancer.
He had been the coach for Scott’s Sunday league football team, Moss Farm, and was known by many across Winnington as the owner of a newsagent.
Scott decided to get his former teammates together to embark on annual challenges for Macmillan Cancer Support.
“We have all known each other since we were kids, we all grew up in Winnington,” he said.
“Everyone in Winngton knew my dad. He owned the newsagents and had lots of friends here.
“Three years ago we found out he had cancer, he was given just months to live.
“Macmillan came in to help my parents, they gave them so much support towards the end of his life.
“I felt I had to give something back so I decided to set up these annual challenges.”
In 2021 Scott, 42 and an engineer, and his friends completed a coast-to-coast 120-mile bike ride, raising around £12,000 for Macmillans.
The following year they completed the Snowdon Six Challenge, which saw participants scale Yr Wydffa three times as they raised £8,000.
This year, a group of 26 decided to try and climb all 24 peaks in the Lake District in 24 hours, starting on Friday (October 6).
They were joined for the occasion by Melvyn Downes, who was one of the directing staff on the 2021 series of SAS: Who Dares Wins and its celebrity counterpart following more than 20 years in the Armed Forces.
“It was absolutely horrific, the weather was just so bad,” added Scott.
“The build-up was fine, everybody had done lots of training, but then come the day the weather was absolutely brutal, the worst any of us had ever experienced with 60mph winds.
“Unfortunately, there was only three lads (Melvyn, Oliver James and Mark Phoenix) who could actually complete it.
“We just didn’t have enough time. We got most of it done but couldn’t get back to the start so had to chute down the mountain before it got dark.”
With support from Alstom and Barclays, Scott and his friends have managed to raise another £7,000 for Macmillans.
Despite the difficulty of this year, he is already eyeing up the 2024 challenge.
“We’re still trying to recover from this weekend but we will definitely do something, we’re thinking of maybe heading over to Ireland or up to Scotland.”
For more information or to donate to Scott's fundraiser, go to JustGiving and search "Bobs 24 peak challenge".
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