For the love of Dogs: OJ’s Mountain climb raises money for the Dogs Trust

Chatting with his support team at Gloucester Community Services recently, OJ said that he would really like to raise some money for the Dogs Trust. To do so, he set his sights on climbing Pen Y Fan, the highest Mountain in South Wales.

On the 5th of April 2023, OJ, along with Vicky, Shauna, and Nikki from his support team, traveled over to the Brecon Beacons National Park. With clouds overhead, the weather wasn’t on their side.

But OJ wasn’t going to let the rain dampen his enthusiasm.

With Vicky, Nikki and Shauna by his side, OJ climbed to the summit, at just under 3000ft, in two hours.

Image: The 3000ft summit of Pen Y Fan, on a rainy April day!

Vicky, manager at Gloucester Community Services, who supported OJ on the walk, explains: “He did amazingly well. Even when things got a little difficult at times and the wind and rain were against us. OJ motivated us all to get to the top. He kept us going with a motivational “I’m not going to fail, I can do this” – and he said hello to every single dog he saw and told their owners what he was doing.”

When they reached the top, OJ and his support team celebrated with a group hug and presented OJ with a medal, which he proudly wore on the route back down.

Vicky continues, “It all went without any hitches, except for when 5 minutes into the walk Nikki lost her shoe in the stream and I had to go in to retrieve it (all I could hear was the other 3 laughing at me). As a team, we are so proud of OJ. We’ve had one of the best days with him and made some fantastic memories none of us will forget. Now off to the Pub for a meal to warm us up!”

As well as raising money for a charity that is very important to him, OJ also achieved a huge personal challenge – well done OJ from us all!

If you’d like to sponsor OJ and raise money for the Dogs Trust, visit the just giving page here