Afan United's UK 3 Peak Challenge in 24Hours

Hi there, we are Afan United Football Club. Established in early 2020, Afan United is a club that looks beyond a football field and thrives on raising money for good causes in our local and surrounding areas. Our next one is a personal challenge and something which is close to our hearts.

In May 2019, Jack & Ryan who are two close members of our club, their Father Darren Phillips, a talented Rigger working in TATA Steel Port Talbot set off for his routine early morning bike ride from his home in Ruskin Avenue down to Aberavon beach. Sadly, Darren never returned home after dying suddenly of a heart attack at the end of the promenade and was later found by a dog walker passing by.

Luckily for Darren, the heart attack he sustained was so big that he never suffered. Since this day it has been Jack and Ryan's ambition to install defibrillators across the length of a very busy promenade of dog walkers, tourists and fitness enthusiasts in aid to possibly save someone's life suffering from a heart attack.

Only 3% of cardiac arrests happen within the recommended retrieval distance of a defibrillator. Defibrillation within 3–5 minutes of collapse can produce survival rates of up to 50–70%.

The boys have had planning permission passed by NPT council to install a total of 4 defibrillators along the beachfront costing £1500 per unit. Placed at a range of 600m apart, this means no one is more than 300m away with access to a defibrillator cutting the time down to save someone's life.

Our challenge is also associated with our close friend Tom Richards. An NHS worker who has been the driving force behind this project. Toms father has a chronic heart condition. He aims to find new research into Heart Failure with The British Heart Foundation. To also raise awareness and increase the possibility of members of the public having access to a defibrillator.

Afan United's challenge to raise money for this very important cause is to climb the 3 highest peaks in the UK starting off at Ben Nevis (Scotland) 1,345m, Scafell Pike (England) 978m and finishing in Snowdon (Wales) 1,085m, all in a 24 hour time scale, including travelling which Trefelin BGC and TATA Steel have kindly donated their mini busses.

Thank you for taking your time to read our story and we look forward to the challenge ahead starting on September 3rd 2021.