Eight-year-old Burgess Hill girl raises almost £2,000 for Children in Need by climbing Mount Snowdon

Lilly Meadows completed the challenge on October 6 in conditions that she said were ‘very windy and cold’ despite the great views.

But Lilly is happy her charity page at www.gofundme.com/f/lillys-children-in-need-mount-snowden-challenge-2024 has made about £1,800, exceeding her £1,500 target.

Her father Steve, 32, said: “We started early but the weather against us so we had a really big wind speeds. I think they were 50mph winds at one point. Lilly’s hands got really cold.”

But he said the wind stopped about two thirds of the way up and all the weather had cleared by the time they got to the top. There was a cue to the very top platform and Lilly, who was dressed in her Children In Need gear, got a round of applause from other walkers. She said she felt proud to have reached the summit after such a hard climb.

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Lilly’s previous fundraising challenges have included a 26-mile cycle ride on a joint tandem bike ride in 2022, which raised £550 in cash. This was donated on the day of Children in Need to her school’s contribution. Steve said: “We basically did what’s called the Cuckoo Trail in Sussex, the whole length of it there and back.”

In October 2023, Lilly completed a walking Marathon from Worthing to Brighton, which took her and her dad 11 hours to complete while ‘battling the start in torrential rain in the dark’. This raised £1,259 for Children in Need.

Lilly said she likes doing to these challenges to ‘help other children have a better life’ and hopes to raise more than £20,000 for the charity by the time she turns 18. Steve is also entering her into the BBC Children in Need Young Fundraiser of the Year Award.

Lilly has some future challenge ideas already. She said: “Next year we’re going to run 100 miles in four days.” Steve said they aim to this by travelling the whole of the South Downs next summer.

Steve and Lilly thanked everyone who donated to the fundraiser.