Telford trio take on seven mountains and seven swims in seven days for charity

Tony Collier, 59, Richard Spencer, 50, and Luke Ormsby, 30, spent the end of February taking on a brutal outdoor challenge to raise money for the MND Association - a charity focused on improving access to care, research and campaigning for people affected by motor neurone disease.

The men, who all work for icanfoster, an independent fostering agency, were inspired by rugby and fundraising legend Kevin Sinfield's '7 in 7 in 7 Challenge', which saw Kevin and his team run an ultra marathon every day for seven days in seven cities around Great Britain and Ireland.

Kevin's friend and fellow rugby player Rob Burrow was diagnosed with the disease in 2019 and since then, he and Sinfield have raised nearly £10m for the charity.

Tony said: "We really took inspiration from Kev and his support for Rob Burrows. It's a horrible disease and we wanted to do what we can. We love a physical challenge, so we took one on."

For the second year in a row, the trio climbed seven mountains in seven days and threw in seven wild swims for good measure.

Their week saw them take on mountains (and icy dips) in Eryri (Snowdonia), the Black Mountains and Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons).

Their biggest challenge came from the weather.

"We climbed up Snowdon on the Tuesday - the wettest day of the year so far - it was a nightmare," Tony said.

"By the time we'd finished, we'd decided we were wet enough and we'd do an extra swim the following day."

Over the course of the week, the team walked 131 kilometres (81.4 miles) and ascended over 6,000 metres.

They finished their tough week last Sunday, with a smaller climb up The Wrekin and a swim in Simpson's Pool, accompanied by 14 foster children and 12 foster parents.

Last year, the trio raised over £1,000 for MNDA, this year, they estimate they will have raised around £1,500, and plan to do it all over again next year.

Donations are still open at justgiving.com/page/icanfoster7x7x7