A group of thirteen Peterborough based Where's Wally themed fundraisers have been found climbing Mount Snowdon. The group of Wallies, with ages ranging from early teens to mid seventies, made their way to the summit raising valuable funds for the Starlight Barking Trust, a charity partnered with the Lemnos Dog Shelter in Greece.

The annual walk has been taking place for five years, and has raised over £46,000. This year's total currently sits at £3,000 and rising. Each year there is a different fancy dress theme, which in previous years has seen the group walk up Snowdon dressed as superheroes, alcoholic beverages, and this year as Wallies.

The Starlight Barking Trust charity rescues, rehabilitates and re-homes stray dogs who are in need of a place to call home.

Three Wallies taking a breather on the way up | None

placeholder image — Three Wallies taking a breather on the way up | None

The walking Wallies were stopped many times on the mountain by people enquiring about the reason behind the fancy dress and then wanting to donate.

As the Wallies waited for their bus to Snowdon at the roadside in Betwys-Y-Coed, there was a non stop procession of car drivers beeping their horns at the group. When they retired to a pub in the town that evening the story had spread. There was no need to hound other customers as more eager sponsors stepped forward.

The founder of the charity, Wendy Lyotier who lives in Maxey, said “it's impossible to put into words how grateful we are to these marvelous people for taking on the challenge for the 5th year. It's not just about the fantastic amount of money raised, it's about inspiring others to work together as a team and help more shelters. Some of the trekkers this year were complete novices spurred on by their more experienced friends. We really hope more dog shelters will find inspiring people like this group. Since Covid days dog shelters all over the world have been in crisis. They need our help.

Speaking about the charity, Wendy added " We've raised funds for shelters in the UK, but our main focus has been Greece where they have a massive stray dog problem with virtually no budget for animal welfare. Hence the municipal shelters are all hell holes. Lemnos was originally one of the worst I've ever seen. The dogs were incarcerated 24/7 in squalid cages with nowhere to run or to socialise. Thanks to the money raised by this group the shelter has been refurbished with the dogs gaining a much better quality of life. It has helped us re-home many dogs who had previously been passed over for years and forgotten about as if they didn't exist. If you love dogs, there are shelters all over the UK which would love a little more support.

We can't all climb mountains, but we can all do something to help.”

To sponsor the walkers please head for

www.justgiving.com/campaign/trekkingsnowdonfortheghostdogs2026

For more information about how you can help rescue dogs or even join the 2027 walk, please contact [email protected]