Five women stripped off and braved the wind and rain to walk to the summit of Moel Fammau to raise a mountain of cash for Macmillian Cancer Support.
Alex Egan of Malpas and Olga Greyling, Maja Kenney, Nicola Kirby and Helen Roberts of Wrexham, all in their 40s, donned especially sourced retro bikinis for the wacky hike that has already raised almost £3,500 with pledges still pouring in.
The hike was the brainchild of Alex and Maja who came up with the idea for the stunt while at a Macmillian fundraising ball in Chester.
Alex, who runs her own interior design business, Stanza Style, in Tushingham, said: “We were at the charity ball and probably had too much wine when we came up with the ideas of doing something to raise some extra funds.
“We knew it had to be something a bit wacky if we were going to hit a target of raising £2,000. However, we are so thrilled to have smashed that initial target. We bought the retro bikinis off the internet so we all dressed the same.”
Olga, who runs her own business, Outsourced Office, along with business partner Maja, says all five women taking part have lost someone to cancer which is another reason why they were so determined to help Macmillian Cancer Support.
She said: “I lost a cousin at the age of just 46 to cancer and Maja lost a close friend to breast cancer and another family member too. We are all friends and just wanted to raise some money for what is a wonderful cause.”
Nicola, who helps run a Wrexham farm, added: “I was sort of dragged into this by Maja who is a close friend. I thought why not it has given us all a real sense of achievement and to raise as much as we have is wonderful.
“The weather was actually quite kind it was quite mild but the wind and rain were horrible and made it a bit of a struggle. I’m so proud we did it though.”
Helen Roberts, who works as a legal executive with Denbighshire County Council’s Legal Services Department, joined up with the team after reading her friends’ posts on Facebook.
She said: “I decided I’d like to join in so started getting sponsors and raised more than £400 in a week. It’s cold but not too bad but the wind and rain is terrible. I was really looking forward to the hot chocolate at the summit and some nice warm clothes.”
Majad said: “What an achievement! We knew if we wanted to raise a good sum of money we needed to do something really wacky and walking up Moel Famau in bikinis in December is pretty much out there!
“We had hot chocolate at the top and lovely warm clothes. We also had a great support team including medical assistance just in case we needed help at any point. Would we do it again? Of course we would but maybe in July or August next time!”
To donate to the Bonkers Bikini Walk just Giving Page visit http://www.justgiving.com/teams/bonkersbikini
