A TEAM of Year 12 students at the King's School Worcester raised more than £750 for Sight Concern Worcestershire thanks to a Climbathon challenge.

The Climbathon was held at the new climbing wall in the Keyes building at the school, and saw 40 students conquering the heights of landmarks such as Big Ben, the Shard and the great Burj Khalifa.

The event was sponsored by investment managers Hargreave Hale as part of an ongoing charitable project, the Eye-Prentice Challenge.

The challenge encourages students to practise and demonstrate practical business skills.

The students have so far managed to raise £1,250 from the climbing, as well as cake sales, a raffle and other donations.

They hope to raise £2,000 over the year.

Student Ruth Wakefield, aged 17, said: “We managed to scale the wall an incredible 92 times, climbing 963m and surpassing our goal of reaching the height of the Burj Khalifa, which stands at 828m.

"The attendance was fantastic and we are grateful to everyone who staffed and supported the event.

"Sight Concern Worcestershire is an outstanding charity and we are excited to be nearing our target of £2,000.”

Sight Concern Worcestershire is the only charity dedicated to improving the lives of blind and partially sighted in the county, and has been successfully supporting people with sight loss for more than 130 years.

Mike Davies, Hargreave Hale Worcester branch manager, said: “We are very pleased that the Climbathon was such a great success.

"The Eye-Prentice Challenge is an excellent project which makes a real difference to the local community here in Worcestershire."

Sight Concern offers a weekly support group on Tuesday mornings at The Bradbury Centre, on Sansome Walk in Worcester.

Anyone wishing to attend should call 01905 723245 or visit sightconcern.co.uk

Donations to the students can be made at https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/climbathon.