“I couldn’t fix my boy but I could raise money”

The Tŷ Hafan Welsh 3 Peaks is a challenging and unforgettable experience.

Participants scale Yr Wyddfa, take on the mighty Cadair Idris and tackle Pen–Y-Fan, all whilst raising vital funds for children with life-shortening conditions and their families in Wales.

Some of the participants have faced challenges far greater than climbing these Welsh mountains. One of those participants is Jonathan Bugg, whose 16-year-old son Daniel died at Tŷ Hafan last March. Jonathan, from Barry, South Wales, says that taking part in the Welsh 3 Peaks is one of the ways he has channelled his grief.

Here he is in his own words:

“It might be a generalisation to suggest that “men are fixers” but I certainly am.  As I spent his last few weeks with our boy in Tŷ Hafan I felt useless.  I couldn’t heal him nor could I change the situation.  I couldn’t fix this.  All I could do was appreciate the help and care and love afforded him by this amazing place that had earned such trust from him that this was where he wanted to die.  So when I heard about the Welsh 3 Peaks challenge, for me it was something I could do to help.

“What I went to discover is that it was so much more.

“I discovered that in the months immediately following losing Daniel the challenge gave me something to focus on.  In my practice walks with friends I was able to talk about him and process some feelings that might have taken a lot longer otherwise.  Of course, I probably wasn’t the best to organise the team as in my grief I didn’t get everything done as early as would have been helpful.

“Then I learned how many people loved our boy.  Whether they joined in the challenge or gave to the fundraising page, the challenge gave them all a way to show their love – for him and for us as a family.  The support and the companionship on the challenge were so encouraging.  And there were others on the mountains, maybe with their own stories of loss or simply wanting to support Tŷ Hafan, and to be part of this and to receive the encouragement and appreciation of the marshals all the way round made me feel like I was actually helping fix something.

“It was of course ironic that Daniel by the time he became ill had already developed a deep loathing of exercise and the outdoors and yet here we were doing a lot of exercise in the very much outdoors in memory of him.  A case of his sense of humour winning through again.

“Despite it being hard and sometimes painful, doing the Welsh 3 Peaks challenge was possibly the best thing I did last year.  I couldn’t fix my boy but I could raise money so that others who are going through the loss of a child could know their child is in the best of hands.

“Of course, when you do something as amazing as that you don’t want to stop at just doing it just once, so we are already organising teams, doing practice walks, starting fund raising and looking forward to doing it all over again.  See you on a mountain somewhere in June.”

James Davies-Hale, Head of Fundraising for Tŷ Hafan, said: “Jonathan and his friends entered two teams, Daniel’s Dawdlers and the Lego Lads, into last year’s Welsh 3 Peaks. Between them raised £16,456.

“This is an absolutely incredible amount of money and we are so grateful to them all, especially given the fact that they did this just a few short weeks after losing their beloved son, brother and friend Daniel.

“No parent ever imagines that their child’s life will be short. Sadly, we know that this is the reality facing thousands of families in Wales. Every person who takes on the Welsh 3 Peaks for Tŷ Hafan will be directly helping to make sure that no one in Wales lives their child’s short life alone.”

The Tŷ Hafan Welsh 3 Peaks takes place on 7 June 2025 and registration is £25 per team. To find out more and to sign up go to: Welsh 3 Peaks – Ty Hafan

Pictured above: Daniel’s Dawdlers – Jonathan Bugg, Simon Fairhurst, Iestyn Jones, Alla Rennie, Clare Humphrey and Neil Douglas, and the Lego Lads – Dylan Jenkins, Charlotte Jenkins, Hannah Frost, Rebecca Walmsley, Richard Walmsley, Gareth Humphreys and Carol Humphreys.