AFTER being chased across Romania by packs of wild dogs, scaling the heights of Bulgaria, and cycling more than 3,000 miles a group of friends have completed their cross-continent cycle trip in aid of charity.

Roger Thomas, of Ammanford, was joined by two friends as he cycled from Istanbul to Anglesey to raise money for a charity battling an immunodeficiency disease, the Hyper IGM Foundation.

Roger's younger brother Andrew, suffered with the disease which affects one in one million people.

Andrew, a former player at Betws RFC, was the world’s longest-surviving patient when he passed away at 54 years of age.

The trio set out on their adventure in April, and after passing through 16 countries along the way, arrived at their destination just last week.

Looking back on the adventure, Roger said: "It was an amazing experience, and such a joy to be able to encounter so many different cultures.

"We saw quite a few strange sights, including a place in North Macedonia that has a huge statue of Rocky Balboa in its town centre.

"It turns out the statue was made and no one wanted it, so the town volunteered to take it off the artists hands.

"The highlight for me was probably Slovenia though. It has some beautiful valleys and rivers we were lucky to see. Though we were held up for a while on one little road as we had to wait for a Bishop to individually bless a long line of tractors."

It wasn't all smooth sailing for the group however.

Roger explained how they encountered difficulties with some of the local wildlife while in Romania.

He said: "In Romania we had the issue of dog packs.

"We got chased by them three or four times, and on one occasion it messed up our route a bit.

"So we thought we were on the right road but it soon turned into a dirt path and then a ravine, and we were unable to turn back because of the dogs, so we had to haul our way across the ravine."

So far the group have managed to raise more than £6,500 for the Hyper IGM Foundation.

It is still possible to donate to their cause, or find out more by visiting hyperigm.org/rideforandrew.