Scarborough Ben Nevis climbers looking to their next fundraising challenge

Tom Brough and Liam Peel took the challenge on to climb Ben Nevis, despite having never climbed a mountain in the past.

However, despite their mountaineering inexperience, the pair came good and completed the challenge in nine hours.

“It was an amazing experience,” Tom told The Scarborough News.

“It took us eight or nine hours to get up and down, which was made more difficult by the change in climate towards the end of our climb.

“The weather was good when we started out, in fact for the first three quarters, but then it changed and we had to contend with snow and ice. It became more of a ramble.

“We got to the top though and cracked open a beer when we’d done it.

“To be honest, the way back down was tougher for us, especially on our ankles due to the constant change in terrain.

“The day or two after were a bit of a write-off for us, but that was probably because we’ve never attempted anything of this sort though.”

Tom, 25, lives in Scarborough and works at the Sea Life Centre, but liaised with the charity for some time to find out about the work they do, and how he could support them, which inspired him to take on the challenge of climbing Ben Nevis.

Liam, another Scarborough local, also works at the Sea Life Centre, and has too liaised with the Rainbow Centre over fundraising after they supported a friend of his who was homeless.

After deciding to raise money in this way, the pair raised £530 for the Rainbow Centre, smashing their initial target of £300.

The Rainbow Centre came into being in 1996 to offer practical support to Castle Ward in Scarborough - an area that had been designated as an Urban Priority Area.

The Centre now supports over 400 people per week and is the focus of a lot of community action.

And following the success of this climb, Tom and Liam have big ambitions to take their fundraiser further - or should we say higher.

“It was a real success and it’s really inspired us to do even more.

“In January we’re looking to do the ledge route on Mount Snowdon to give us more climbing experience.

“That one will require a little bit more, in terms of the challenge and equipment we’ll need. We’ll have to use ropes and crampons.

“Following that, we’ve set our sites even higher, in terms of why not go abroad?

“We’re taking into consideration mountains such as Mont Blanc and Mount Kilamajaro.

“They’re bigger climbs, so if we could raise even more money than we already have that would be great, and we might consider looking at other charities to attribute money to, but I’d really like to keep the Rainbow Centre at the forefront of our fundraising.”