THREE men from Marhamchurch aim to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise funds for a children's charity.

Kevin O'Reilly, Martin Colwill and James Howard-Jones will climb the highest freestanding mountain in the world — 19,340ft — in August and hope to arrive on the summit after eight days of climbing.

The three have been training hard over the last few months, but fitness is not their main concern. Kevin said: "Walking for six to eight hours a day isn't a worry for us, it will be as we get higher, then the possibility of getting acute mountain sickness becomes real. Even cerebral or pulmonary edema isn't unheard of on Kilimanjaro.

"Taking our time, drinking lots of water and resting well should help. Headaches are expected as we climb higher and it doesn't help that myself and Martin have lived our whole lives at sea level!

"Summit day will be the hardest, with us climbing over 1,000 metres and descending 2,000 metres in a single day. To achieve this we will have to start walking at midnight."

The trio believe their hardships will be worth the effort as they are doing the climb to raise money for CHICKS (Country Holidays for Inner City Kids), a charity that provides respite breaks for disadvantaged children from across the UK. Since its inception in 1992 it has provided more than 12,000 breaks for deserving children at its retreats in Devon and Cornwall.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.