Shrewsbury Town players in Three Peaks Challenge

Thursday 26th May 2011, 11:16AM BST.

Shane Cansdell-Sheriff, Kevin McIntyre and Nicky Wroe on Scafell Pike

A quartet of Shrewsbury Town players climbed two of Britain’s tallest mountains on the first day of a gruelling charity challenge.

Nicky Wroe, David Raven, Kevin McIntyre and Shane Cansdell-Sheriff began their Three Peaks Challenge yesterday and managed to make it up both Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike.

Celebrating reaching the summit of Ben Nevis

Mr Wroe said: “It took about five-and-a-half hours to get up and down Ben Nevis. Then we got straight off to Scafell Pike after grabbing a bit of lunch.”

It then took the group – who are aiming to raise £2,000 for Hope House Children’s Hospice in Oswestry – about four-and-a-half hours to ascend and descend the English mountain, which is in the Lake District.

Mr Wroe said: “Ben Nevis was quite a bit steeper and the weather was quite bitterly cold up there with snow up there.”

The group are on their way to Snowdon one day ahead of schedule and hope to complete the challenge by the end of today.

Speaking from the Lake District this morning, Mr Wroe said he expected it will take the group around four hours to drive to Snowdon.

Nicky Wroe and Kevin McIntrye looking towards Scafell Pike

To donate, visit the website http://www.justgiving.com/stfc-challenge. More than £500 has been pledged via the online page so far.

Regular updates about the trip have been posted on Twitter, both on the official Shrewsbury Town page and by Mr Wroe, Mr McIntyre and Mr Cansdell-Sheriff.

Hope House, which provides care for terminally-ill children and support for their families, is one of the charities supported by the football club.