Kingston’s Mountaineering club climb high for charity.
Jack Hammond
KU Mountaineering Club completed a charity fundraising event by climbing the height of Everest, but in Tolworth.
The Kingston students completed the charity climb in six hours and passed the target of 8,848m by clambering up a climbing wall over 1,200 times, raising £635 for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.
Rob Dupré, President of KUMC said: “I have been amazed by the response from the club. The dedication from the group to finish the goal and then keep going was great.”
Bar set high
All of the members climbed the 10-metre wall over and over again, with some tackling it over 100 times all on their own.
Vice President Vicki De Valembois Siddall said: “I had heard of climbathon’s before and wanted to set the bar high for the club. We are a close group and knew we would have lots of support. Everest is the world’s highest peak so we couldn’t set the bar much higher.”
Money for good cause
The event raised money for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex air ambulance. The charity aids sick and injured people in South East England and surrounding areas by providing a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service and Air Ambulance Service for the benefit of the community.
“As we are climbers, we climb in those places and it is great to know that we have support if anything goes wrong,” said Mr Dupré.