Edinburgh friends reunite 20 years after meeting at uni for gruelling challenge

A Midlothian dad who lost several family members to cancer has completed a gruelling challenge alongside a group of friends to raise money for a cause close to his heart.

Jamie Grewar was joined by five friends at the end of August who together reunited from their university days and completed the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing the tallest mountain in Scotland, England and Wales - all in less than 24 hours.

With most of the group having been affected by cancer during their lifetime, Jamie, 40, sadly lost an auntie, uncle, grandparent and godparent to the disease.

READ MORE: Edinburgh transport police release image of woman following 'incident' on train

READ MORE: Work underway at Edinburgh's iconic Jenners - including hotel, cafe and restaurant

Having studied in Edinburgh together 20 years ago, Jamie and his friends Caroline, Adam, Jen, Doug and Graeme have all recently moved back to the area and shared the special moment to raise money for Worldwide Cancer Research.

On August 31 the group completed the challenge in less than 24 hours, conquering Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in difficult conditions against the clock, raising over £5,000.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live following the challenge, Jamie said the chosen charity was always at the top of his mind after suffering various losses throughout his life.

He said: "Personally for me cancer is very much top of mind. I had one auntie, one uncle, a grandparent and a godparent who died of cancer and so when I have raised money before it has always been top of mind.

"Everyone had their own personal attachment and I think everyone has a feeling the bid to cure cancer is an important one and most people are connected more than they would like.

"We more or less all live in Edinburgh and studied here which was about 20 years ago where we all met. We moved to different places but all ended up near the city again.

"We were familiar with the Three Peaks Challenge already and it was Jen who had a friend who had done it so she was motivated by that and really wanted to do it. I also had friends who had done parts of the challenge and we all like the outdoors but had never climbed any of the mountains together."

Jamie trained for the challenge more than anyone else to get in shape with the team using a van to travel between the three mountains with food and supplies.

The group were organised with a schedule in order to complete the challenge in less than a day, something Jamie admitted contributed towards the excitement on the day.

He added: "When it came to the weekend of doing it we were all just super excited. There was a bit of apprehension about do we know what we're getting ourselves into.

"The weather played a huge part. For the first 18 hours it was bright sunshine which made a difference in terms of how fast we could go and not having to change clothes. Snowdon, the last peak, was dark, windy and foggy and none of us had really done anything in the dark before so that was the only point where it was a little less enjoyable.

"We were pretty on it in terms of the time and we were mindful of stopping for too long. Traffic potentially played a big part as the if the traffic was terrible it would stop you doing it.

"We went as fast as possible up and down Ben Nevis to give ourselves a head start but Snowdon we were a little more relaxed as we knew we had roughly an hour more than it usually takes to climb but the path broke up a bit and the fog played a part."

The group managed to eat and sleep whenever the schedule allowed, taking turns driving to and from the different peaks and making sandwiches each day to keep them fuelled up.

Jamie added how travel sickness struck down a few members of the group after the second peak which was one of most challenging aspects of the trip to deal with as well as navigating Snowdon with various people being forced to split up to find the most accessible route to the top.

Jamie continued: "It was all about catching up on sleep and getting back to ours kids afterwards. The support and reaction was really nice and there is a bit of a void thinking 'what now'.

"We got huge benefits out of doing it with friends which was a really nice thing. We haven't done anything like this together since we were in our 20s so it was a nice thing to do."

Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox

Jamie and the rest of the group managed to raise over £5,000 for Worldwide Cancer Research which currently funds the most innovative research ideas, in any location around the world, to start new cancer cures, explore ways to prevent cancer and discover more effective and kinder treatments for patients.

Siân Nicholson, Worldwide Cancer Research’s Head of Fundraising and Philanthropy, said: “What an incredible achievement from our amazing team of Curestarters! I would like to thank Jamie, Jen, Caroline, Adam, Doug and Graeme for thinking of Worldwide Cancer Research while taking on this challenge.

Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.

“Worldwide Cancer Research prides itself on funding the most innovative, bold and world-leading discovery research that will help us better understand cancer and find new treatments and cures. We call our supporters Curestarters because their generosity and determination is what allows us to fund potential cancer research breakthroughs that will help to save lives”.

More information about Worldwide Cancer Research can be found on their website.