A FUNDRAISING team who scaled the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in memory of a baby girl who died of meningitis have raised £5,000 for research into the killer disease.

Clara Fox was only ten-months-old when she contracted pneumococcal meningitis and septicaemia and died on October 6 last year.

Her parents, Claire and Stefan Fox, of Upper Poppleton, York, have since devoted their time to raising awareness of the disease, and raising funds to support research by Meningitis UK, in a bid to save future parents the heartache of losing a child.

As part of their fundraising mission Stefan, together with eight of his work colleagues from Playscheme, in Elvington, took part in the National Three Peaks Challenge last month.

The team climbed 1,344m above sea level at Ben Nevis, 978m at Scafell Pike and 1,085m at Snowdon, with a 500-mile drive between the three mountains.

Organiser and friend Lee Thurston said: “It was, as we all imagined, very hard work. We encountered a puncture, tummy bugs, vomiting, blisters, aches and pains and traffic jams, but it was all worth it. We just missed out on completing it in under 24 hours due to the puncture and the North Wales traffic, but we’re all still immensely proud of ourselves – it was quite a gruelling few hours.

Despite it being a roasting 26 degrees on the ground, the two feet of snow at the top of Ben Nevis was quite startling.

“Special mention must go to our drivers, Steve Danby and Rob Matthewman who guided us safely around the 998.5 miles, from England to Scotland, back into England, down to Wales and then back into England.

“We were all honoured to support Meningitis UK and in particular, Stefan, Claire and Clara, and we hope the sponsorship can make a difference. We have broken our target of £5,000 which is absolutely wonderful, and money is still trickling in. Thank you to absolutely everyone who has supported us.”

You can still donate money to the team buy visiting meningitisuk.tributefunds.com/fund/Playscheme3Peaks.