After hearing about the unfortunate diagnosis of someone close, a group of old university friends decided to turn a negative into a positive and set themselves a challenge that would help raise money for Race Against Blood Cancer.

On a sunny Saturday in May the group set off to take on the Three Peaks in the Yorkshire Dales. The walk would involve climbing up 5000ft, across 24 miles, completing it all within 12 hours. They firstly set-off up the hills of Whernside, followed by Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent, while taking in the breath-taking views of the valley of the River Ribble and the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Dozens of jelly sweets, a few local pub stops and minus two toe-nails later, not only did they complete the walk within 10 hours 20 minutes and manage to raise over £2,000 for charity, but they did something they thoroughly enjoyed and discovered themselves a new pastime. They wrapped-up and celebrated later that night with friends and family over a charity BBQ.

The challenge itself was extremely tough but what the group felt in return was truly gratifying and totally worth it. And this is just the beginning of our fight against blood cancer.