A GROUP of dedicated friends in Wrexham toughed it out through thick mud to raise money for a cause close to their hearts.

Lee Andrew, 36, and his colleagues from the Cash Converters store on Rhosddu Road completed the 5k Tough Mudder event in Malpas on Sunday, September 8, to raise money for Dravet Syndrome UK.

The charity, which was founded in 2008, aims to improve the lives of people suffering from Dravet Syndrome, which is a rare and severely disabling type of epilepsy presenting in infancy. Lee, who has taken part in other fundraising events in the past for the same charity, says he is motivated by the plight of six-year-old Corey Price, a family friend who has suffered with the condition since he was just 10 months old.

Lee said: "Corey's family are close friends of mine, so the charity is more personal to me than others.

"I found the event to be full of energy and everyone there works as a team to get you through the 5k trail of mud and water. There were 13 obstacles to get through, ranging from crawling through giant pipes into a pool of mud to climbing a very high cargo net to the top and back over."

Lee, who completed the event with four of his colleagues from work - Joshua Corneill, Luke Goodyear, Conor O’Brien and Roy Leary - said he chose not to undergo any training prior to the event.

He added: "I did no training at all as I would rather feel the pain and struggle like the parents of families with Dravets feel everyday.

"Previous to this I did a walk up Snowdon in 2016 and also arranged a fundraising event called Corey Fest, which spawned a second edition, with people from the community offering raffle prizes."

The five friends have managed to raise more than one thousand pounds so far and anyone wanting to make a donation can do so via PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/pools/c/8gLIZgZ66U.