South Hereford Garages have entered this year's Three Peaks Challenge on 6th-8th July to raise valuable funds for the Meningitis Trust.

The combined Volkswagen and Audi team of eight from Hereford who have volunteered to take part are Andy Squires, Steve Wheedon, Paul Jones, Colin Barker, Chris Hodges, Steve Pullen, Ben Chance and Shane Powell.

To complete the challenge the men will have to scale the highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales in 36 hours - that's 26 miles of rugged mountain terrain and a height gain of 9,000 feet. The event is a real endurance test with each mountain providing a mental as well as a physical challenge. It begins on Friday morning with Snowdon in North Wales followed by an overnight climb up Sca Fell Pike and the final climb on Saturday afternoon to reach the top of Ben Nevis.

Training is already well underway and team leader Andy Squires is keen to ensure that everyone is ready for the challenge. He told us, "I've done the Three Peaks before and know what to expect which helps a lot. A couple of us are keen 2-3Km walkers, several others regularly go to the gym or participate in some kind of sport so we're all relatively fit. Building up stamina is really important so we're doing plenty of walks in varying conditions to make sure we're well prepared. It is exhausting but the views are breathtaking and you get a huge sense of achievement at the end."

"But the main motivation for us is to raise as much money as we can for the Meningitis Trust. We're hoping to raise at least £4,000 so we need as many people as possible to sponsor us." If you would like to help support the South Hereford team in the quest please contact Andy at South Hereford Garages Volkswagen on 01432 376200.