A group of fitness fanatics from Ely are to swap tacking treadmills for one of the world’s tallest peaks, all in the name of charity.

Charley Allen, Tim Megginson and Christian Howes are all to climb Africa’s highest mountain – Mount Kilimanjaro – on June 4 for three different charities.

Personal trainer Charley, 29, is tackling the challenge for Alzheimer’s Research in honour of her granddad, Gerald, who is living with dementia, while Tim, who runs Body Shape Fitness in Ely, will be fundraising for Arthritis Research UK.

Christian, a draftsman, is raising money for the Haemophilia Society.

The trio will trek for nine days from June 4 to Uhuru Peak at the summit of the mountain in Tanzania.

Charley said: “I’m very excited. It’s something I’d always wanted to do. I’m 30 this year so I thought why not?

“I’m a fitness instructor so I do lots of physical training as part of my job, but we’ve also been incorporating lots of walking as part of our training, as well as six gym based training sessions per week.

“My granddad got vascular dementia. It was awful, devastating. He was diagnosed in 2011 and stayed at home until December 2015 when he went into a care home. He really has the best care now and he’s a 40-minute drive away.

“At first he would have days where he was really forgetful and quite confused and then the next day he’d be fine. It was really upsetting.

“He was just a nice, caring and loving man and the door was always open for someone to come round and have a cup of tea.”

Jessica Sayer, regional fundraising officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “There are 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK. We are the UK’s leading dementia research charity funding pioneering research into preventions and treatments for dementia.

“We couldn’t do it without supporters like Charley. We can’t thank her enough for taking on this enormous challenge for us, and we wish the whole group the best of luck.”

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