A LOCKERBIE family are feeling proud after ‘battling the elements’ to climb Ben Nevis, in the process raising over £2000 for Marie Curie in memory of Bev Farish.
The group of eight climbers was made up of Bev’s children Cameron and Ruadhan along with Ruadhan’s partner Jake Lamont; son-in-law Ian Millar and family friend Russell Smith. They were later joined by Greig Carruthers and Niki Rea and Christine Howatson who walked up with the Marie Curie team.
The trek has been planned for sometime as the family hoped to scatter Bev’s ashes on the mountain, which was a special place for her. Cameron said: “We always needed somewhere to scatter her ashes, and we wanted to do it on Ben Nevis and we figured that a lot of people would want to be there so we decided to all go together, and as well fundraise for Marie Curie because they were a great help when mum was ill.
“Mum had climbed Ben Nevis two or three times before she became unwell, it made her feel really patriotic, so we thought it was the best place.”
On the day of the big trek they set off at 4.30 am where they were met with bad weather, but Cameron and the rest of the group were determined to make to the summit.
He added: “We were definitely battling the elements on the day, the Marie Curie folk had advised us to turn back and not reach the summit because the conditions were that bad. But we set off at 4.30 am to try and beat the bad weather, it was still bad but we managed to get up and down.
“We reached the summit somewhere between half 10 and 11 am, but we all stuck together and didn’t leave anyone behind because it was really important for us to all get there together.”
In total the family managed to raise £2917 for Marie Curie and Cameron added: “It was emotional day for everyone involved, but we love fundraising for Marie Curie because they were so good with mum and we hope that we’ve made her proud.”
