Hemel Hempstead man leads team to top of Scafell Pike TWICE to raise money for Brain Tumour Research in memory of his mum

A man from Hemel Hempstead led a team to the top of England's highest peak twice, to raise money for Brain Tumour Research in memory of his mum.

Taranjit ‘TJ’ Lotay, whose mother died in 2019 - 10 years after being diagnosed with a brain tumour - scaled the 978-metre Scafell Pike in Cumbria’s Lake District National Park on Saturday, September 25, with nine of his friends from Amazon in Hemel Hempstead.

The challenge was organised as part of a number of UK-wide Brain Tumour Research Walk of Hope events and commemorated TJ’s mother, Rashpal Lotay, who died in May 2019, 10 years and two days after being told she had just three years to live.

TJ set a target of £1,000 and they have raised over £2,500.

A climb that should have took the team five to six hours to complete, actually took ten hours because they ended up climbing it twice!

TJ said: "It went really well, everyone was pretty tired by the end of it though.

"It should have taken about five to six hours, but we were out there for 10 hours, as we actually climbed to the summit twice!

"We got to the top and we started following people down and I realised we were going back down the wrong way, our car park was the other way.

"So rather than tell the lads and make us go back up, I went in a loop and we went back up a different way, but there was a lot more rocks.

"It was a heavy vertical climb, a real rock climbing experience. The adrenaline was pumping, but it was also quite scary on that part.

"It was a really good experience, the camaraderie was great, and who can say they summitted Scafell Pike twice in one day!

"We have raised £2,655 for the charity, and an extra £168 from Gift Aid."

He said: “I joined Brain Tumour Research to honour mum – I want to get her name out there because whatever us kids do in life is a representation of how she raised us.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet historically just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this

devastating disease.

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.

Adam joined TJ on the climb, he said: "It was a difficult challenge but it was really good.

"The main thing for us was supporting him, it meant a lot to him.

"The hike and raising money and awareness for the charity was important and you could see how much it meant to him.

"Watching him go through the emotions and seeing how much it meant to him was nice to see, and I'm glad we all did it with him.

"The climb was tough and when we got to the top the second time you could see how knackered everyone was.

"But it was good to see the mental resilience and everyone push themselves to the top."

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Since his mother’s death, TJ has become a dedicated supporter of our charity, helping to raise funds and awareness of what we do.

We appreciate all his support and that of his friends and colleagues as we strive to raise £1 million a year for each of our UK Centres of Excellence, to sustain long-term peer-reviewed research and prevent more families from experiencing similar heartbreak.”

The fundraising page is still open, to make a donation and help the team raise more money for Brain Tumour Research, click here.