Three women are embarking on a monumental team challenge in aid of a local charity.

Emma Pugh, Vickie Merrills and Natasha Wheeler, who all work at the Punch House in Monmouth, have decided to complete a virtual journey from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.

The trio will walk, run and cycle the 603-mile virtual journey, which represents the distance in a perfect straight line between the southwest and northeast extremities of Great Britain.

The challenge is in aid of The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers Charitable trust, a wholly voluntary charity that supports the wider life of the Regiment. The Trust has several means by which it offers suppors, such as sporting, adventure training, welfare, recruiting and representational activities. It had paid out an average of well of £4,000 per annum since being formally registered in 2002.

Emma said: “They are a superb charity to support and we are close to them since they would normally celebrate in the Punch House for their Christmas dinners, as well as have other meetings and gatherings.”

Vickie added: “I feels we have formed a very strong bond with the regiment and wanted to give something back to the community.”

Following restrictions to the hospitality industry across Wales, the Punch House has been closed since Friday, December 4.

Emma explained: “Throughout lockdown and whilst we are furloughed, we wanted to do something positive and do something to give thanks to our community.

“We are due to complete our challenge on New Year’s Eve at the top of Pen y Fan and hoping to raise £603 - if not more!”

Natasha added: “We wanted to get something positive out of the situation. We all feel that we are missing the local people and we love hospitality, so being able to get involved in something so close to home is just what we want to achieve from this challenge.”

The team have currently raised almost £200 towards their target and are aiming to raise as much money as possible.

If you would like to support Emma, Vickie and Natasha with their challenge, please visit their JustGiving page to donate: