Two brothers who walked from Wrexham to Barmouth carrying a sack of potatoes have raised over £18,000 for charity.

Jack and Harvey Jones walked from Wrexham to Barmouth on Sunday, 31 May, to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK. With football manager Phil Parkinson having already put them through their paces in training (see the brothers’ video on the ‘Cambrian News’ website) how could they possibly fail?

Jack and Harvey organised the walk because their dad finished radiotherapy for prostate cancer treatment on 2 January.

“We really want to give something back on behalf of our dad and raise as much as possible for Prostate Cancer UK,” Jack explained.

“After throwing a few ideas around we settled on the idea of doing a charity potato carry.”

The family business supplies fish and chip shops across North Wales and Chester with potatoes.

“What better way to raise money than for us to take on a crazy and ambitious challenge involving some spuds!” Jack added.

The charity walk saw the brothers deliver a bag of potatoes on foot from their unit in Cefn-y-bedd Wrexham to The Mermaid fish and chip shop Barmouth, a distance of nearly 60 miles over Welsh hills, all while carrying 25kg of potatoes!

The brothers have had some help in the training department from none other than Wrexham AFC manager, Phil Parkinson.

“He helped us film a training video,” Harvey explained.

The pair set off at 6am on Saturday, 30 May from Wrexham and hoped to arrive at the Mermaid Fish Bar in Barmouth at 12 o’clock midday on Sunday, 31May.

“All went to plan and we finished 12 o’clock at The Mermaid,” Harvey told the ‘Cambrian News’.

“We’ve raised £18,000.”

He added: “The atmosphere in Barmouth was great.

“The Mermaid Chip Shop did a great job of making us welcome with balloons and the samba band.

“We’d like to thank everyone along the way that give us a beep and showed us their support, especially to a couple of people that had been following us on social media and waited outside their houses at night to hand us donations.

“One supporter took a picture of us at 9.15pm between Llanuwchllyn and Rhydymain, and he also handed us a donation which was great, as it was starting to get a lonely night on the empty roads, so seeing people make the effort to come and wait for us was amazing.”

People gathered outside The Mermaid to welcome the brothers, applauding them as they cut the ribbon to the fish and chip shop to officially enter and deliver the sack of potatoes.

Their fundraising page is still open so it is not too late to donate. Their current total stands at £18,102. To add to that, visit their fundraising page at https://shorturl.at/ryYTZ, and you can see their training video with Phil Parkinson, and one of them arriving in Barmouth to a warm welcome and the sound of the Batala Bermo Barmouth samba band, on the Cambrian News website.