Ballynahinch man Richard to climb four peaks across UK fundraising in memory of brother

Ballynahinch man Richard to climb four peaks across UK fundraising in memory of brother

8 March 2023

A BALLYNAHINCH man who lost his brother in a road accident three years ago will climb four mountains across the UK next month to raise funds for Air Ambulance NI.

Richard Stuart has spent his entire life in Ballynahinch and late last year he decided to climb one mountain in every region of the UK.

Richard and seven employees from his local playground construction company, Garden Escapes NI, will climb Ben Nevis in Scotland on April 14, then travel to England to climb Scaffell Pike on April 16, before climbing Mount Snowden in Wales the following and finally returning to Co Down to climb Slieve Donard on April 18.

He is carrying out this monumental challenge in honour of his brother, Matt, who died in a motorbike accident near Ballynahinch in 2020 and would have turned 40 on April 18. He also wants to raise much-needed funds for NI Air Ambulance.

“Matt died in a motorbike accident on the Spa Road on April 16, two days before his 37th birthday,” Richard said. “The weather was fantastic and he was always into bikes. He went out for a spin in the sunshine, but went off the road and died at the scene. There was a whole team there — ambulances, the PSNI and the Air Ambulance came out to help him.”

Richard and his family wanted to pay tribute to Matt after he died, but couldn’t due to Covid restrictions.

“Matt had a big friendship circle, but we couldn’t have a proper funeral service for him because of Covid,” Richard explained. “The time just kind of passed. Then last October I realised he would have been 40 this April, so I thought should try and do something to mark his death, to attract interest and to raise money.”

Richard began training for the climbs a few days after Christmas. He admitted that training for such a physically demanding challenge took a bit of getting used to.

“I was into hiking and mountaineering on my early twenties, but haven’t done a huge amount since,” he said. “I’ve been getting into the Mournes every weekend. I’ve climbed Slieve Donard four times since Christmas and I’m trying to train at home as well.

“I knew I had been very inactive for a long time and it was an eye-opener. I went up Slieve Donard a couple of days after Christmas and I must say I struggled, being a bit older. I had to bite the bullet and take it seriously and try and get into shape.”

Richard chose to raise funds for the Air Ambulance because the charity came out to help his brother when he needed them and it does not get any government funding. 

Richard has set up the facebook page “Walk 4 Matt” to raise awareness of the fundraiser, and has exceeded the target he set on Justgiving.com.

“It costs £5,500 a day to run Air Ambulance NI and they cover all of Northern Ireland, so I originally asked for that amount,” He said. “I hit that target a couple of weeks ago and I think I’ll need to put the target up again soon, which is great.”

If you would like to make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com or search “Walk 4 Matt” on Facebook.