'People search' company employees conquer Welsh three peaks

Tracesmart team reach new heights in raising money for charity

A team of employees from the people search specialists, Tracesmart, have successfully completed, the Welsh 3 Peaks Challenge. More importantly, the Tracesmart four, along with a group of 21 other walkers are anticipating raising almost £10,000 of much needed funding for the charity 'Hospice of the Valleys', which provides free specialist palliative care for cancer sufferers in Blaenau Gwent. The challenge was to climb the three largest mountains in Wales.

The Tracesmart team completed the course in less than 10 hours and covered a total of 20 miles – an impressive achievement for the novices who took part. The first peak to be surmounted was Snowdon, which stands at over 1000 metres above sea level. The toughest peak to walk was Cadair Idris, which they successfully tackled after Snowdon; the challenge concluded with the team conquering Pen-Y-Fan in the Brecon Beacons.

Of the four strong team of walkers, three – Matthew Hopkins, Lloyd Watkin and Kelvin Morgan – work within Tracesmart's IT department, helping to update the company’s databases such as the electoral roll. They are also instrumental in making improvements to the online facility that help users to find relatives and conduct an address search. The only female participant in the team, Rhiannon Wilcox, led the pre-event training and was instrumental in ensuring the team remained motivated during the challenge. "We knew it was going to be difficult, but all of us wanted to accomplish a major undertaking like this," Tracesmart’s accountant explains. "It’s a personal achievement for us, and to know we have raised this money makes us feel proud of the effort we have put in."

The Tracesmart teams' chosen charity is the 'Hospice of the Valleys' in South Wales. Mathew Hopkins took part in the walk for personal reasons as his mother received care and support from the hospice when she became ill in 2000 and recently in 2009. He comments, "We used Twitter to record our progress throughout the day and were encouraged by those who made an effort to support us. It’s great to have raised so much money for the hospice and we continue to receive donations." The team recovered well from the trek and they have hinted they would like to take part in the 2010 National Three Peaks Challenge which covers the highest peaks in the UK; Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in North Wales. Those who wish to make a donation can still do so by visiting the Just Giving website or enter any of the team members’ names in the sponsor a friend search box. Any donation made can take advantage of the government run 'Gift Aid' scheme, which will further boost the team’s fundraising efforts.

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