THE memory of a Magor man has spurred on a group of his friends to raise thousands of pounds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

The Big Man’s Challenge was first held in 2013 in memory of Lyndon Davies who passed away in the same year.

As a Day Skipper Mr Davies was a keen yachtsman and was a big supporter of the RNLI, so the decision to support the charity seemed a logical choice.

One of the organisers, Gerald Organ, said: “Lyndon was known as the big man.

“He was always donating to the RNLI, whenever we passed a donation box he would put something in or if we were near the coast he would buy something from their stores.

“So that’s how that came about and we wanted to do something that challenged people.”

The first challenge undertaken by three supporters was a bike ride from Polperro in Cornwall to Chepstow, and other challenges have included sky dives and long walks.

This year the group, now made up of 40 people, walked from Ross-on-Wye to Chepstow along the Wye Valley before finishing at the Three Tuns for a fundraising event.

This effort raised £2,402.65 and brought the total amount raised for the RNLI since 2013 to more than £10,300.

Mr Organ said they had been thrilled with the amount of support and donations received, including from the Three Tuns who will be acting as the group’s headquarters for future fundraising events.

He also hoped that the support will continue to grow and include people who might not have known Lyndon.

He said: “It makes a big difference to have that support. We’ve not had a base before, and to have the help of the Three Tuns is great; they made a big effort, as we got there, they whole garden was full of people.

“We already have some ideas for next year, possibly a cycle ride involving more people. If we could get even 60 or 80 people it would be great.”

All have this effort has been more than welcomed by John Gail, chairman of the Chepstow fundraising branch, who praised the group for all they had done.

He said: “It’s absolutely phenomenal what they have done. It’s a lot of hard work to raise all that money.”

“To have the support of a group like this is amazing, they are so enthusiastic and it’s inspiring for us to have their support.

“It’s particularly poignant to to be raising the money in the memory of a friend.”