A rugby team are leaving their studs at home and donning walking shoes to do the three peaks challenge for charity.
The Basingstoke Cavaliers are tackling the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales over the August 21 weekend to raise £5000 for Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.
The money is being put towards helping the hospital's cancer unit to get radiological facilities after one of their team mates was treated for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.
When Grant Clapson was diagnosed with the aggressive form of cancer, he had to travel as far as Southampton to get his much needed treatment.
Kiel Hillier, a member of the 11-stong team, said: “When you are going through that kind of treatment, travelling anywhere is not good for anyone. We hope we can help bring the treatment closer for everybody.”
Now in remission and facing a clean bill of health, Mr Clapson will be supporting the team on their weekend adventure.
The journey starts at the foot of Ben Nevis in Scotland, travels south to Scafell Pike in the Lake District and finishes at Snowdon in Wales.
The Basingstoke RFC third team have to go all the way up and down the three peaks within 24 hours.
Mr Hillier, talking about the challenges facing him and his men, said: “At the Cavaliers, we are the social side, we are not down the gym all the time so it is more of a challenge for us. We are quite fit but we are not at the peak of physical performance.
“At the end of the day we are better suited to playing a game of rugby on the field and then having a few beers at the end.
“We have been training quite hard for the challenge though, all of us have been putting in the man hours and a lot of us have been going down the gym at six o'clock before the day starts and wearing our walking shoes to work.”
The side have been sponsored by Go-Outdoors in Chineham, who provided them with equipment for the trek such as walking shoes.
Store Manager, Jason Hunt, said: “We're really keen to support our customers' adventures. Upon hearing about the Basingstoke Cavaliers courageous and heart-warming challenge we couldn't wait to get onboard to provide advice and essential equipment.
“We hope that the team's brave efforts inspire and encourage those from in and around the local area to engage in exciting outdoor pursuits.”
Mr Hillier added: “We all were there to help him through and it has inspired us to give something back.”
To support the Cavaliers three peaks challenge, visit http://www.justgiving.com/Kiel-Hillier-
