Hampshire family scale Three Peaks in memory of Portsmouth grandmother

Connie, Charlie and Jake Threadingham completed the gruelling Three Peaks Challenge last month to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Joined by their fathers, Steve Grier and Chris Threadingham, the group took on the challenge in memory of Maureen Threadingham from Portsmouth who died in May.

Steve, 44 from Petersfield, said: 'Maureen was diagnosed with MND in October last year – I think until you live with somebody who has it, you don’t quite understand how much if affects their lives.

‘As a family we wanted to do something to raise awareness of the disease, and raise money for the charity.

‘The children were all keen to get involved as well, which was really admirable of them.’

Maureen spent her childhood living in Scotland, so the initial plan was to show the 77-year-old photographs of the family at the top of Ben Nevis.

But when the grandmother died a week before the challenge was scheduled to take place, these plans were put on ice – and instead the family took the journey in her memory.

Steve said: ‘Losing Maureen hit the children hard. It’s the first time they have lost a close family member so it was a big deal for them.

‘While scaling the Three Peaks there was a lot of time to reflect on what’s happened, and I think that has really benefitted all three of them.’

According to Steve, the three children all looked after one another during the challenge, offering emotional support during the difficult moments.

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‘It was a really challenging experience,’ he said.

‘The children were all helping each other up the mountains – they were together every step of the way.

‘Mount Snowdon in Wales was probably the hardest one to climb, and there was a moment where Charlie, 12, wasn’t sure he could make it to the summit.

‘Jake gave him a pep talk and it really spurred both of them on.’

So far, the family has raised more than £2,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

To donate, people can go to justgiving.com/fundraising/steve-tilly-charlie.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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