THE loss of his father inspired him to continue taking on extreme expeditions to raise tens of thousands of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support and now Newport’s David Thompson is encouraging others to do the same. He tells his story to RUTH MANSFIELD.

"WHEN you get to the top of a mountain in a charity trek and you hear about how much money you’ve raised for Macmillan Cancer Support and what it will be used for, that’s when it hits you.

After the initial excitement of achieving the goal and taking the pictures with everyone, someone from the charity then gives a talk telling you how special you are for being there and how the money raised will help people.

They might talk about someone with cancer who cannot cook and relies on meals being brought to them which means they have to eat at 12pm and 5pm or when the meals on wheels arrive.

But just raising £50 can buy them a microwave so they can freeze their meals and eat them when they want.

That’s when you realise the money you have raised can go a long way. That’s when you realise the money you have raised can give someone huge amounts of freedom.

When I was younger my sister lost her best friend to cancer. I’d heard the words ‘Macmillan Cancer Support’ but never really thought much about it and just got on with life.

But then I started supporting Macmillan with charity trekking back in 2005. When my dad Tom died from throat cancer in 2010, we were hugely supported by Macmillan. That made my support of them much more personal.

It was one of those things with dad. We’d noticed he had a lump and it was getting bigger. It wasn’t rocket science what it was and so we had about six to eight weeks to mentally prepare ourselves for the news. Then the doctor told us it was cancer.

He was strong in dealing with it. It affected his speech and his eating but he didn’t moan or groan. It was quite inspiring how he dealt with it. It still is.

When I lived up north with him in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, we used to do a lot together. He genuinely loved the outdoors. We were always in the woods and out on the North Yorkshire moors.

So when he died of cancer, it made me more focussed on continuing my support for Macmillan.

My fundraising for Macmillan started one evening back in 2005. I was sat looking at the Macmillan website thinking about what I could do. They had three levels of activities - medium, difficult and extreme - and I thought let’s go for the extreme.

That led to my first expedition climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005. I got the kit and did all the training. I was fit and agile and knew I was strong enough to climb the mountain. If you ever have any problems though, you just think of people who are suffering and the people you are going to help.

One of my friends who is ex-special forces also gave me advice to help me prepare. He mainly told me to eat, eat, eat and eat. It’s all about the energy.

The trek started off well although it was very wet. But on the penultimate night to reaching the top there was a blizzard and we weren’t allowed to go to the top. It was really disappointing. But after being given a minimum of £5,000 to raise through the trip, I raised around £10,000.

That gave me the bug then and on the way back down I signed up to climb it again. I had unfinished business.

In 2007 I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro again and this time reached the top. That led onto the next challenge.

In 2008 I trekked across the Sahara which took about six or seven days. It was very hot. I remember that. On one of the days it was 140F and we also had a 36 hour sandstorm too. There was one night where our tent got demolished in the night. It was quite a testing time.

In 2009 I trekked Iceland and then in 2010 I went to Peru and did the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. I remember the postcard views of that. When you’re aching but you see the views, it’s very powerful.

We were fortunate enough to be there when a group of celebrities were there too taking on the challenge and I remember chatting in the bar to Denise Van Outen.

Through all my challenges. I’ve probably raised around £50,000 directly but when I look at the number of people I’ve talked to and promoted the treks to, there’s probably around 15 or 20 treks which have happened because I’ve spoken to people. They have each had to raise a minimum of £5,000 but most people raise £7,500 to £10,000 so the maths is there.

It’s something I’m passionate about so I don’t find it hard to fit it in around my work running my own consultancy business in the pharmaceutical industry and also volunteering with SARA on the lifeboat rescue crew.

It was this passion which got me taking to Paula Langston, the Macmillan fundraising manager for Gwent, and led to me becoming a corporate ambassador for the charity.

I’d had ongoing discussions with her for many years but will now be working to promote Macmillan to companies in this new role. I want to help increase the general fundraising for Macmillan and encourage workplaces to send people on the treks as part of team building. If you send a group of employees up Mount Kilimanjaro together they will come back as a really strong unit and there is a huge business benefit. Any companies out there wishing to explore this please get in touch.

I’ve made so many great friends through the treks. You become very close.

I’m also carrying on with the treks myself. Last year my father in law, Graham, was diagnosed with cancer and is being helped by Macmillan. Having listened to my trekking tales, especially of Kilimanjaro, my wife Claire decided she wanted to do Kilimanjaro in support of her dad and Macmillan, so in 2014 that will be my fourth trek up Kilimanjaro. I’m very proud of Claire in taking on Kilimanjaro and her now driven support of Macmillan.

My fundraising also led to me carrying the Olympic torch in Ackworth near Leeds during the summer. That was superb. Just seeing the crowds – it’s hard to explain. But it was amazing to be part of that and to put myself alongside some of the other people who were running.

For me, it’s the personal stories which are what my fundraising is about, its what will keep us going at 2am and -20C on Kilimanjaro summit night.

And when I’m doing the treks or even doing a bucket collection and I get all these people telling me how the charity has helped themselves or a member of their family - it can get very emotional for them but it also gets very emotional for me too.

As a long time fundraiser, I can't miss this opportunity to promote our Macmillan summer ball that we are running, with the support of Barclays, on June 29 at the Hilton hotel in Newport. Tickets are £30 per head. Anyone who would like to come along or help Macmillan in any way can get in touch with me on 07725 744636.

I do feel proud when I think of what I’ve done and what Claire and I are now doing. But I know how Macmillan help people and are helping people right now like Graham as well as many thousands of people across Wales.

I know Dad would be very proud of what we're doing too. He’s probably looking down with a big smile on his face."