FOUR friends from Thornwell raised £800 for St David’s Hospice by tackling one of the longest and fastest zipwires in the UK on Saturday.

Nik Everett, Karen Zimmerman and Toni Roberts dressed up as clowns while Keith Chapman wore a mankini to raise funds for the charity, braving speeds of up to 40 miles per hour on The Wire at the National Diving and Activity Centre near Chepstow .

St David’s Hospice workers helped care for their friend and mum of two, Tracey Gay, who died last November aged only 37 after suffering from a brain tumour.

She left two sons, Connor, 17, and Callum, 15, who live in Shirenewton.

And the fundraising event was organised by Ms Gay’s sister Sarah Varley. She cared for her ill sister at her home on Alice Crescent in Thornwell with assistance from the hospice’s staff.

She said: “Only one of them liked doing it and would do it again. I’m just trying to keep busy. She was my best friend as well as my sister. It could be us at any time.”

The group has enquired to Swansea Airfield about doing a sponsored skydives in the near future.

Zipwire enthusiast Nik Everett said: “I’d do it again – anything. It was for a good cause.”