Huntingdon gymnasts scale the heights for charity

Members of Huntingdon Gymnastics Club raised hundreds of pounds for the Nepal Earthquake Victims Fund by completing a rope climb.

The group of 15 gymnasts and their coaches climbed a single four metre rope over a four-week period in August of this year to an equivalent height of 29,028 feet- matching the dimensions of Mount Everest.

The team raised more than £650 in the process.

Some 2,000 rope climbs were completed by the team, with gymnasts averaging 150 each, equating to 40 per week, and around seven per gymnast per training session. Top climber was senior member, Ali Hussein, of St Peters School, who managed 248 ascents.

The event was the brainchild of senior Club member Tony Duchars and his mother, Clare, who were both moved into action by the plight of the victims of the summer earthquake in Nepal.

They enlisted the support and fundraising skills of Huntingdon Rotary Club which helped to publicise the event through its Just Giving page.

Huntingdon Rotarian Gloria Heywood said: “We are so very proud that the boys thought of such a novel way to raise funds for a needy cause. They worked consistently to achieve such a fine result.

“They have asked that the money raised be put towards a Shelterbox which contains emergency shelter and vital supplies.”