The class of ‘78 from the City of Ely College will abseil down their old school building - the soon to be demolished Needham’s Tower – to raise money for charity.

Ely Standard: Robert SkinnerRobert Skinner (Image: Archant)

The idea came from Ian Cox, of Ely, who contacted a few of his former class mates about having a reunion ahead of their 50th birthdays.

Four of the former students met up and agreed that the milestone should be celebrated in style. It was then that they hatched the plan to abseil down their former school in aid of two local charities.

Mr Cox said: “We wanted to do something different, that students can get involved in… something to remember the building by when it is demolished.

“We wanted to keep it local to see the real benefits in the community; Little Miracles are creating a century garden so we are hoping our donation will benefit them greatly.

Ely Standard: Elaine Puller.Elaine Puller. (Image: Archant)

“The Ely Community First Responders are a dedicated volunteer group who save lives by quickly attending incidents and accidents,” he added.

The old school friends are also planning on giving the school a legacy gift to commemorate the event, for example sport apparatus.

The event has been backed by the school and Dave Talbott’s Adventure Events will host the event.

The abseil will take place on Saturday March 25. On the day, from 9am until 5pm, there will also be a raffle, bouncy castles and physical ‘donation stations’. Members of the public can sponsor an abseiler.

Ely Standard: Geoffrey EverettGeoffrey Everett (Image: Archant)

There will also be a party in the evening followed by a breakfast on the Sunday morning to remember the classmates who have died.

Geoffrey Everett will be attending the event in honour of his cousin Carl Everett, who died from cancer, and was a former classmate of Ian’s.

The reunion committee plan to visit Little Miracles ahead of the abseil, on Saturday February 18, to see how their donation will help.