Shropshire military police tackle own Everest for Nepal charity effort

And it is this thought that spurred on a team of Royal Military Police to climb their own Mount Everest in a single day to help with the relief effort in Nepal.

Most people find it tough taking on the challenge once, but a team took on Shropshire's Wrekin 22 times yesterday wearing full military gear and carrying rucksacks holding the equivalent of 25 bags of sugar.

Split into two teams of six, they walked and jogged through mud and brambles along pathways, with the journey to the top talking approximately 26 minutes.

It is believed that walking up The Wrekin 22 times is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest, which may have been affected by the quake.

The team of 12, which is based at MoD Donnington, completed their task in pairs yesterday to raise money for volunteer aid workers helping with the relief effort in Nepal, following the recent devastating earthquakes.

When one pair got to the top and back down again, the next began on their journey, with all members completing the route back to their support vans a total of four times.

Gavin Brooks, who is one of the officers based at Donnington, Telford, said the group got on with the task in hand.

He said: "Then when the earthquake happened last month in Nepal, we decided we would raise money for the volunteers who are out there.

"A lot of the volunteers are servicemen and also the Gurkhas are doing a lot, so it's quite close to our hearts. The military community sticks together."

He added: "I then started to think how high is The Wrekin compared to Everest.

"So I managed to work out that if we climbed The Wrekin 22 times it should be the equivalent of climbing Everest."

Money raised, which amounts to £800 so far, will be split between supporting the Gurkhas Welfare Trust and the British Red Cross.

Mr Brooks, 38, originally of Crewe, added: "It is hard to imagine what the people of Nepal are going through.

"Luckily, it didn't rain and our spirits were raised throughout the day. We decided to split into two teams so we can look after each other better. I think some people found it harder than they originally thought.

"It's been brought up a few times that we should do something for charity. Then when the earthquake happened last month in Nepal, we decided we would raise money for the volunteers who are out there.It was an idea I had and when I pitched it people wanted to get involved so it went from there."

Everyone who took part in the challenge is based at the Parsons Barracks in Donnington.

Even though the group is split into two teams, Mr Brooks, 38, said it was not meant to be a race but he wasn't surprised when it turned competitive.

Noel Gurr, 30, of Taunton, said: "Everyone in the team is of different fitness levels so some found it more difficult than others.

"It was a fantastic day and hopefully we will get more than £1,000 to go over to Nepal."

Naomi Benton and Charlotte Todd also took part in the challenge and said they were "delighted" to have completed the task.

Support teams were also on hand at the top and bottom of The Wrekin to provide refreshments and care for the fundraisers.

Aid is pouring in to Nepal following the first earthquake on April 25 that killed more than 8,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings.

More than 100 are thought to have died in a second big tremor that struck last Tuesday.

Nepal's recent earthquakes have left devastation in their wake, with dozens still missing is shocking.

People from across Shropshire and Mid Wales have been out and about raising fund for the aid effort.

Adventurer Ant Eddies-Davies, who runs Live The Adventure outdoor activity company in Stottesdon, between Bridgnorth and Cleobury Mortimer, has launched a campaign to raise £25,000 for the aid effort and has even been out to Nepal to help out.

More than 30 dancers from the Rising Culture Group from the World Heritage site of Bhaktapur, about 10 miles from the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu had hoped to attend this year's festival.

A major fundraising campaign had been launched to enable them to travel 5,000 miles from their country on the roof of the world to compete at Llangollen 2015 in July.

But their dream of coming to Llangollen suffered a huge setback when the first 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, damaging large areas of the country and claiming over 8,000 lives.

Then, just as its people were trying to recover, Nepal was hit by a second large quake of 7.3 magnitude on May 12 which killed hundreds more.

In the wake of the second disaster, Todd Lochhead, who is leading the effort to bring the dancers to the Eisteddfod, decided to fly over to Nepal to visit Bhaktapur and the group, which is based at the Rising English School in the town.

Mr Lochhead said: "Thankfully, no-one from the dance troupe has been injured or killed, but some have lost relatives.

"The dance teacher Mukti has had his house completely destroyed which means he and his two children, son Roshik and daughter Rhosika, who are both about 10 or 11 years old, have been left homeless."

The group had registered to take part in the children's folk dance, traditional dance and cultural showcase competition categories, and fundraising was well underway to raise the estimated £40,000 to bring 34 peopleto Llangollen. Fundraising was going well until the earthquakes hit.

Mr Lochhead said that while survival was the main priority, before leaving Nepal he was due to speak to Mr Banebepali about the possibility of a small number of the troupe trying to get over to visit the Eisteddfod.