Scarborough boy William Mayow is walking 100 mountains for charity

William Mayow, and his mum Carolyn, are walking up 100 mountains in just one year to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

They are doing the challenge in memory of their friend Vanessa, who died of cancer last month after a two-year battle.

Carolyn said: “We leave a V at the top of each mountain to honour Vanessa and, when it’s hard work, this reminds us why we’re doing it.”

When the mother-and-son duo were deciding what challenge to do to raise money in memory of their friend, they asked Carolyn’s dad for help. He told them there are about 450 mountains in the UK, which would be too hard for them to achieve and so they settled on 100.

Carolyn, 38, said: “William and I do everything together and this was a discussion we had. We both wanted to do something that would challenge us and offer a bit of adventure while supporting a charity that meant so much to us.

“The first one, The Old Man of Coniston, has been the best so far. Just to get that first one done felt great and set us off for the rest. We’re looking forward to Snowdon and Wales as we have never been.”

William is a pupil at St Martins C of E Primary school, and so all of the walks take place on weekends, or in the school holidays. During the Easter holidays, the duo headed to Wales.

“He tells me he is excited and has had fun but found some walks hard. Particularly the Coledale horseshoe as there were some steep drops and the wind was relentless the whole 12 miles.”

“Helvellyn in the Lake District is going to be a long slog up the safer side to avoid the infamous Striding Edge. Longer and safer is going to be our choice there, though.”

The pair have raised over £1000 so far.