Since 2018, our group of dads and uncles whose families have been supported by Tŷ Hafan Children’s Hospice, have taken on 3 extreme and unique endurance challenges. The challenges have involved hiking up some of the UK’s highest mountains, off-road cycling across trackless wild country, and kayaking windswept lakes. And, with the help of some key sponsors and countless supporters, we have raised over £160,000 for the hospice.
The Tŷ Hafan Hospice
Tŷ Hafan is a Welsh registered charity that provides holistic palliative care for children with life-limiting conditions and their families. A wide range of care and support is offered at the hospice, based in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, in the community, at hospital or in schools.
The families of our dads and uncles taking on the challenges are all supported by the amazing people at the hospice. There are dads whose families still go to the hospice for support and many whose children are sadly no longer with us. Nevertheless, our families continue to get vital support from Tŷ Hafan because once you are a Tŷ Hafan family, you are always a Tŷ Hafan family.
And taking on the challenges is simply a way of us saying ‘Thank You!’.
The 5in55
The idea of dads and uncles taking on challenges was the brainchild of Gareth Jenkins, who at the time headed up the specialist dads support group at the hospice. The dad’s support group was founded to provide a platform for dads to get together and talk. Having a child with a life-limiting illness or losing a child is very isolating and the dads’ group gave the men a reason to get together.
Taking on challenges was simply an extension of that Dads Group. But we did not want to take on just any challenge. Our aim was to take on challenges that were different, if not unique, and also exceptionally difficult. And so, for the very first one, Gareth proposed merging the national and Welsh 3 Peaks challenges and climbing all five mountains in just 55 hours. And so, the ‘5in55’ challenge was born.
The response from the dads’ group was incredible. 13 dads and uncles signed up to take on the challenge – Adam, Paul, Dan, Ian, Laurence, Lee, Angelo, Daniel, Marco, Chris, Brad, Alun, and Andrew – alongside Gareth and James from the hospice and long-time supporter Lloyd from Convey Law, with a support team of 4 – Dave, Bob, Dave-the-Chef and Haydn.
Our mottos for the first challenge focused on the pressures and stress faced by dads of Tŷ Hafan families and were #DadsMatter and ‘Every Dad has a mountain to climb’.
On 4th July 2018, our intrepid walkers set off from Tŷ Hafan heading to Fort William in Scotland. The next day, on the afternoon of 5th July, in unusually warm conditions of over 30°C, we started the challenge by climbing Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the UK, walking 11.5 miles and ascending 1,575 metres. Despite one dad collapsing due to the heat after just 30 minutes, but thankfully recovering with some support from the team, the climb took 6 hours and 40 minutes. By 8pm, we were heading south to the next mountain, Scafell Pike in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria.
At 4am the next morning, we reached the car park for Scafell Pike. It was dark and the midges were out in force. After a quick breakfast, we set off to climb England’s highest peak. It was 4:20am. Over the next 4 hours we would walk 6.3 miles and ascend 991m, watching the golden sun rise from behind the looming mountains as we climbed. It was a spectacular sight and very spiritual.
There was limited sleep on the cramped minibuses as we headed to Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), the highest peak in Wales. The drive took its toll on our legs and we were all stiff when we set off at 3:50pm from the Pen-y-Pass car park. Just over 5 hours later, after walking 9.8 miles and climbing 806 metres, we had scaled the mountain and reached the car park back in Llanberis. But there was no time to waste and we were quickly back on the road, heading towards our accommodation near Cadair Idris for the night. Sleep was sweet that night!
The next day we were up before 6am. There were a lot of aching limbs and we set about repairing injured and blistered feet before setting off for the start.
Cadair Idris is a very challenging mountain to climb and the one people fear the most when taking on the Welsh 3 Peaks. The 6.2 mile up and down is relentless, with the actual climb being higher than Yr Wyddfa at 849 metres. After just under 4 hours, the tired team had climbed the mountain and returned to the car park ready for the long drive down to Pen-y-Fan near Brecon.
Pen-y-Fan is the highest mountain in the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) and one that we had all walked many times during training. Nevertheless, our legs were feeling the effects of climbing 4 mountains. The 4.4 mile walk took 2 hours and 38 minutes and we ascended 445 metres. There was a feeling of euphoria when we reached the Pont ar Daf car park.
From the moment the team had set off at the base of Ben Nevis to reaching the Pen-y-Fan car park had taken 22 hours and 26 minutes. The team had walked 38.2 miles and ascended 4,666 metres (the 7-day trek from Lukla to Everest Base Camp in Nepal is an ascent of 2,504 metres).
The challenge had taken its toll on many of us, with Lloyd ending up in hospital with a badly infected toe. But the sense of togetherness and achievement was incredible. Nevertheless, our team was stunned when we were told that our 5in55 mountains feat was recognised by Just Giving. As many of us as possible travelled up to London to attend a special awards ceremony where we were crowed ‘Team Fundraiser of the Year’.
But, more importantly than anything else, everyone in our team had made friends for life.
Another Challenge
Through taking part in the 5in55 challenge our dads and uncles had found a support group like no other. The challenge had given us all a focus and a reason to get out together, not just on the challenge but also for training. And in 2019, after the success of the 5in55, we devised another crazy extreme endurance challenge which we called the ‘10nTaff.’
The 10nTaff involved climbing the 5 highest mountains in North Wales on day one, then the 5 highest in South Wales on day 2, before cycling 55 miles along the Taff Trail to Cardiff Bay on day 3. The original aim was for the challenge to take place in 2020 or 2021, but the Covid pandemic forced the postponement of the challenge until June 2022.
For the 10nTaff 8 dads and uncles signed up, including dads who had not joined us on the 5in55 – Stuart, Matt, Georgie, Paul, James, Laurence, Lee and Chris – with James joining us for the whole challenge and Lloyd joining for the cycling stage. We had our vital support team of 6 – Jason, Dave-the-Chef, Dave, Andrew, Wayne and Daniel.
This was another unique and exceptionally difficult challenge of which the magnitude would only become apparent as the hours ticked by.
None of our team had climbed many of the mountains and as we set off at 7:20am towards Carnedd Llewellyn and Carnedd Dafydd on day one there was an excited but nervous buzz in the group. An hour later, as we were scrambling up an almost sheer rock face, the reality of the challenge became apparent.
“I didn’t sign up for this,” said Laurence. “I signed up for a trek not rock climbing.”
Coming down the mountain was not any easier and neither was climbing the next mountain Glyder Fawr.
On day one, we climbed Carnedd Llewellyn, Carnedd Dafydd, Glyder Fawr, Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Garnedd Ugain covering 20. 7 miles and ascending 2315 metres. We had been on the mountains for 15 hours. By the time we reached the car park in Llanberis it was 1am in the morning. Many of us were struggling. After some much-needed food, the team drove overnight to Fan Brycheiniog, the first mountain of 5 on day 2. The only sleep we got was in the minibus.
We got out of the minibuses with stiff and aching legs. Sleep had been limited. Legs were strapped up and blisters covered. Also, we had another problem. Our guide had unfortunately pulled out, meaning we were on our own. Day 2 was a blur for many, with the 5 highest mountains in South Wales proving to be as testing as those in the North. After Fan Brycheiniog, the team headed East and climbed Pen-y-Fan and Corn Du, before taking on the 9 ½ mile never-ending trek up Waun Fach and Pen-y-Gadair Fawr. We covered 18 miles in the mountains in 10 ½ hours, ascending 1507 metres.
By the time we reached the bunkhouse just outside Brecon, many of us were nearly broken. Overnight Lloyd joined us for some much-needed morale boosting, before we all set-off on our bikes from Brecon heading along the Taff Trail towards Cardiff Bay. The cycling was a relief, with different muscles being used. But fatigue swamped the group. 53 miles later, after cycling for 7 hours and 17 minutes and ascending 880 metres, we reached Cardiff Bay and were greeted by a crowd of emotional family and supporters. It was an amazing welcome.
When we had set-off on day 1, we had had no idea what was ahead of us. The 10nTaff had pushed us all to the limit.
The BikeBoatBoot
All good film series end will a trilogy and so there was no surprise when we announced our next challenge, the BikeBoatBoot. With the aim of always making the endurance challenges extreme and unique, we came up with the idea of hiking, off-road cycling, and kayaking the length of Wales in 4-days.
On the 27th June 2026, 8 dads and uncles, once again with several new faces – Anthony, Paul, Dan, James, Laurence, Lee, Chris and Ryan – along with Jason from Tŷ Hafan started the challenge on bikes at Tŷ Gobaith just outside Conwy. The support team of Dave-the-Chef, Andrew, Wayne, Matt and Dave were joined by Jake and his JT Expeditions (now renamed as Remote Outdoors) team who were overseeing and guiding the team on this complex challenge.
Day 1 took us cycling and hiking from Conwy, through Betws-y-Coed and down to Lake Treweryn (Lake Bala). By the time we set-off to kayak the length of the lake, we had covered 37 miles in just over 7 hours (this time excludes rest stops) and ascended 1095 metres. To make the challenge a little more difficult, high winds meant kayaking North up the lake in huge almost sea-like waves. After 1 hour 18 minutes we reached the end of the lake. We had completed day 1.
When the challenge was devised, we underestimated the task of constantly changing clothing from hiking to cycling. Swapping into cycling kit and back into hiking gear took time that we didn’t have. We headed off to our bunkhouse for the night with the knowledge that day 2 was going to be tougher.
After an initial 3-hour 8-mile hike, the rest of the day was spent on the bikes. We travelled from Lake Treweryn down to Ponterwyd, covering 46.2 miles and ascending 1800 metres in just over 11 hours. The terrain had been brutal with steep climbs, both on and off-road, and challenging tracks across the wild and open countryside. We were all exhausted by the time we reached our bunkhouse.
But we also knew that day 3 was going to be the toughest.
Setting off from Ponterwyd, we hiked across the geographical centre of Wales as we headed to Brecon. There were 3-stages of cycling split with one 3-hour hike (5.2 miles, ascending 370 metres). The terrain was unforgiving and, at some time, most of the team came off their bikes. We cycled across small rivers, along deep-rutted paths, and through dark, root-laden forests. One memorable moment is when we had to carry our bikes on our shoulders whilst climbing an un-cyclable, steep, rocky slope for over a kilometre. The challenge was brutal and there was nowhere to hide.
We were either cycling or hiking for nearly 12 hours, covering 55.3 miles and ascending 1888 metres. The sense of relief when reaching Brecon was palpable. But there was still one day to go.
Day 4 would be another long day. After hiking from Brecon into the mountains, we then cycled along the Taff Trail to Cardiff Bay before walking the final 8-miles along the Wales coastal path to the hospice. The hiking and cycling took over 11 hours and we covered 55 miles whilst ascending 1080 metres.
The reception at Tŷ Hafan was incredible, with families, children and staff welcoming us into the memorial garden. Finishing at the hospice meant so much to all of us and there was an outpouring of emotion and relief. Ending the challenge at the hospice meant more than any of us could have imagined. This was where we had all spent precious time with our families.
Another extreme endurance challenge had been completed.
The Catch22Peaks Challenge
The 3 challenges taken on by the dads and uncles have created life-long friendships and an incredible support network. Four dads and uncles – Chris, Laurence, Lee and Paul – have completed all 3 and have signed up for our next challenge. Several others will be taking on their third challenge.
From the outset, our challenges were not about raising money, but more about building a community for dads and uncles. We have been fortunate to have so many incredible supporters and sponsors which means that we have raised over £160,000 for the hospice. But the challenges mean far more than that.
Many of the first group that started the 5in55 have lost children since that challenge took place and this group of incredible dads and uncles have been there to provide support. Nothing can prepare a parent being told that their child has a life-limiting illness. And being in the company of other dads helps.
Often the dads are asked how they find the strength to take on these extreme challenges. And the answer is quite simple. The physical pain of taking on an endurance challenge is nothing compared to the pain of being told your child’s life is short or when you lose a child. Nothing can ever be that hard. That desperately painful. And every time we take on the challenges, our children and our families provide all the inspiration we need.
So, what is the next challenge?
In 2027, our latest team of dads and uncles will embark on the most extreme endurance challenge so far by reaching the highest point of all 22 Welsh local authorities in just 4-days by hiking and off-road cycling. So far, 20 dads and uncles have signed up for ‘Catch22Peaks’. There are a lot of new faces, but also those who are returning to be part of a special and unique team of men. And, we hope that with a little bit of luck we will be able to take our total fundraising above £200,000.
And our mantra for this challenge is simple and inspired by Toy Story.
It is ‘No dad gets left behind’.
In the months leading up to the next challenge, we will get together for training bike rides and hikes. None of us are athletes and so we all need to put in a great deal of work to get fit enough to take on the challenge. But, more importantly, it is just an excuse for us all to spend a few hours together out in the wilderness.
Presently the team is looking for corporate sponsors who will have their logos on the team’s kit. Please contact Paul on paul@paulfearsphoto.co.uk if you wish to help.
Also, to make a sponsor the team, check out our Just Giving page.
