An Aberystwyth diner donated all ice cream profits on the last day of half term to Blind Veterans UK, after a retired Captain from Capel Bangor completed a three year charity challenge.

Blind Veterans UK Captain Colin Jones, from Capel Bangor, has spent the last three years completing fundraising challenges for the charity, which supports to blind and vision impaired Armed Forces and National Service veterans with sight loss, and has managed to raise £5,248.

Now the owner of PD’s Diner Dai Day has decided to donate all profits from the sale of ice cream on Sunday, 31 October, to Blind Veterans.

Colin praised the “very kind gesture” and said PD’s staff “battled through” a “very wet and very windy Halloween Sunday” and managed to raise £230 for Blind Veterans UK.

Colin said Dai has supported him throughout his three-year charity challenge: “To finish off the challenge, I cycled from Dover to Llandudno Blind Veterans centre, revisiting all of my army postings in England and Wales, and then I did a blindfolded 47-mile walk from the Blind Veteran UK Centre in Llandudno to Hightown Barracks Wrexham.

“Dai Day throughout has been a great support and he’s always championed the cause. He approached me to ask if I could ask blind veterans.

“The biggest thing for me is that it’s a nice token gesture, they should receive credit for going the extra mile. It’s a great charity, they do a lot for veterans who have lost their sight. It’s a nice way for PD’s to finish the trading season.”

Colin has completed many challenges over the last three years, including but not limited to ascending Pen-Y-Fan and Yr Wyddfa blindfolded and playing a charity football match between Aberystwyth Old Boys and The Royal Welsh Veterans. On Friday, 3 September, Colin and his team arrived at Wrexham to end the three-year challenge, which is known as the Captain Stephen Healey Memorial Challenge.

Captain Healey was killed in Afghanistan on 26 May 2012, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device (IED).

Colin said while he didn’t know Captain Healey, he was approached by others in his regiment about the challenge: “I didn’t know Stephen personally, but I have done lots of fundraising challenges over the years.

“A few of the guys in my regiment knew about me fundraising so they approached me, and I agreed to do a challenge in memory of Stephen.”

Out of all the challenges, Colin said the “hardest” challenge was the blindfolded walk from Llandudno to Wrexham: “It was a total shock to the system, because it was a case of being led 47 miles with a blindfold. Because you’re being led, you can only take little steps. In all my years with the army, I’ve never suffered with blisters, but on that day I did.”

To donate to the Captain Stephen Healey Memorial Challenge, go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/colinjones910