THIRTEEN school friends have completed the gruelling national three peaks challenge in memory of Nicholas Wilkes who took his own life earlier this year.

Nicholas, 30, was a prison officer at Full Sutton and a father of two. Since his death in February, family and friends have raised more than £10,000 to help charity work to combat male suicide and support people struggling with mental health.

Here, Nicholas's friends tell the story of their three-peak adventure across Scotland, England and Wales...

Back in 2009, three friends took part in completing the national peaks challenge over three days for Candlelighters, a local cancer charity in York. One of those friends was Nicholas Wilkes, who was petrified of heights but still took part and raised a good amount for charity.

Sadly, Nicholas took his own life on February 14, 2022 and in his memory a group of 13 of his school friends took on the same challenge, but this time attempting all three National Peaks - Ben Nevis in Scotland, Snowdon in Wales, and Scafell Pike in England - in 24 hours.

York Press: Nicholas Wilkes, who died this year aged 30Nicholas Wilkes, who died this year aged 30

The 13 taking part in the challenge were: Ashley Holland, Ash Lovelace, Ben Whitehead, Chris Gartland, Darryl Davison, Harry Owen, James Rogers, Mathew Gunnell, Matt Waudby, Mikey Roebuck, Rich Grainger, Tom Botterill and Tristan Kirkpatrick.

Mathew Boynton, Steve Hall and Nicholas's dad Shaun did the driving while Darryl Davison was the driving force behind the whole event.

The challenge was concocted over a few drinks while celebrating Nicholas’s birthday on June 25. It took place in the autumn. On September 30 at 9.30 in the morning, the friends, three drivers and two minibuses set off for Ben Nevis to begin this epic challenge.

To say that some were more prepared than others is an understatement. While most turned up with suitable boots, wet weather gear, hats and gloves, James had decided that a multi-coloured shower-proof jacket and a pair of shades was the way to go.

The same also went for the training prior to the event; some had been out putting the miles in, while a small majority thought walking backwards and forwards to the car was training enough.

So with smiles all around and a determination to do this for their friend they set out to conquer Ben Nevis.

With Matt and Steve driving, the group headed towards Scotland. They crossed over the border and the heavens opened up. The driving rain stayed until they hit Glen Coe. They arrived at Ben Nevis at around 4pm, and after a short period for them to get ready, accompanied by shouts of, “where are my gloves”, “I am sure I packed my hat”, “anyone got a spare pair of boots” and “what do you mean shorts are not suitable”, they set off and headed into the lowering sun.

York Press: In one of the mini buses on the adventureIn one of the mini buses on the adventure

The climb up to the top was difficult, cold, wet and dark, but just over six hours later they arrived back at the car park. The most striking thing about them all was, that despite how difficult they said the climb was, they were all still smiling.

Once again, they climbed back into the minibus and headed for Scafell Pike in the Lake District. While they slept in the minibus the drivers, Mat, Steve and Shaun got them through the five and a half hour drive to the bottom of Scafell Pike, with some heart-stopping driving around single lane farm tracks in the dead of night.

They arrived at Scafell Pike around 4am in the morning and once again set off into the dark. This time they had no path to guide them, raging streams to cross and fatigue and hunger to battle, but battle they did and soon they were back at the minibuses and setting off towards the final challenge of Snowdon in Wales.

They had not realised that they had to pre-book the car park at Snowdon. So they drove to a layby about a mile away to get ready, then back in the minibus, up to the car park where they executed the perfect drive-by drop-off. As the group set off into the distance the drivers turned towards the nearest town for a well earned cup of coffee and plate of chips.

They managed to complete the climb and decent of Snowdon by around 4.30pm, and therefore completed this awesome challenge. Following this last climb there was still one more challenge left, would they all manage to stay awake long enough to make it to the pub for a well-earned drink?

This challenge was done to raise money for Mind, to raise awareness of and prevent male suicide and in memory of their good and close friend Nicholas Wilkes.

In doing this challenge they have raised well over £6,405 and were in the top one per cent of fundraisers on Just Giving in September. This brings the total raised by family and friends of Nicholas Wilkes since February to over £10,000.

If anyone wishes to donate to this worthy cause in memory of a fantastic friend please follow this link to their just giving page – www.justgiving.com/fundraising/national3peaks-memoryofnick