'Kindness of strangers' pushed 89-year-old to climb Welsh Three Peaks

An 89-year-old man has completed the Welsh Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for homeless people.

And after finishing it, he spent the night sleeping rough in solidarity with those in need of a helping hand.

Laurie Brophy, from Pencoed, has been raising money and awareness of the Llamau Charity, which works to end homelessness.

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It took him about five hours to reach the summit of his most recent climb, Mount Snowdon, and said the “kindness of strangers” helped push him up the mountain.

He said: “At the last stage I thought, am I going to make it?

The climb up Snowdon is full of uneven footing which made Laurie's trek even more challenging (Laurie Brophy)

“About a third of the way there you can see the summit which on one hand is reassuring because you know just what you need to do.

“On the other hand it is a bit daunting. You’ve already used up a lot of energy and you see this climb ahead.

“Everybody is so cheerful and encouraging and that does a lot to get you through so you keep going.”

However, Laurie is no stranger to challenging himself for charity.

He said: “I began to jog, then I thought I’ll have a go at a marathon and it goes on from there.

"I did the inaugural Gobi Desert Race, where you do about 20 or 25 miles per day, and the Egypt race in the Easter Sahara.”

Last year, he cycled the whole length of the UK on the 874 mile Land’s End to John O Groats path, aged 88.

His daughter, Katy Brophy said: “We are pretty certain at age 88 he is the oldest to do so!

“He sleeps rough the majority of his adventures to raise awareness of homelessness.”

Laurie shot this about 600m up Cader Idris at the beginning of September (Laurie Brophy)

Katy and her husband both work for Llamau Charity which is why Laurie chose to raise money for them.

Their website reads: “Our mission is to end homelessness for young people and women.”

The charity has supported more than 67,000 young people, women and children who are homeless or facing homelessness since starting up 30 years ago.

If you wish to donate to Laurie’s fundraising page, take a look here . He has currently raised £2,520 of his target of £5,000.

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