TWO men travelled from their homes in America to support a Barnsley charity close to their hearts – and managed to raise over £6,000.
Steve Iveson and Shiro Ando travelled to the UK earlier in the year to complete the National Three Peaks Challenge for Barnsley Independent Alzheimer’s and Dementia Support (BIADS).
Steve dragged his friend over the Atlantic to take on the challenge – which takes in Scotland’s Ben Nevis, Wales’ Snowdon and England’s Scafell Pike – and they managed to raise £6,010.
Steve said: “I’m from Barnsley originally – my parents still live in Silkstone.
“My mum has dementia and I can’t do as much as I’d like, so I wanted to find a way to help out.
“You can see the change in my mum when she visits BIADS, it’s amazing and completely transforms her state of mind.
“It’s like she’s brought back to life.”
The pair are avid hikers, and took the difficult challenge in their stride.
“We hike a lot,” he added.
“So we actually quite enjoyed it – the worst part was the driving, we were driving six to eight hours a day just to get there and back.
“But it’s really just like one hike a day, you go up and down then start all over again.
“It’s very much like what people suffering with dementia go through, they’re good one day but the next they’re back to square one.
“I’m looking for suggestions for the next challenge, I’m always looking for more ways to help.”