Sarah Swailes of recruitment consultant Hays raises £5,000 for cancer charity Marie Curie (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Sarah Swailes of recruitment consultant Hays raises £5,000 for cancer charity Marie Curie

11:27am Thursday 9th July 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

A PR manager proved she had a head for heights when she ventured out on a fund-raising adventure.

When Sarah Swailes, from Loughton, set out to generate £3,500 for charity she had a mountain to climb.

She went on to do just that conquering the peaks of Kilimanjaro and smashing her target by raising a total of £5,000 for Marie Curie which provides free nursing care for cancer patients.

Kilimanjaro is the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and during her 5,895 metre climb Sarah faced temperatures as low as -20C and oxygen levels below 50 per cent.

But the plucky PR agent, who works for recruitment consultant Hays, in London, held her nerve to reach the summit after six days of hard climbing.

She said: “The climb was tough at points but incredibly rewarding. It is impossible to know how the severe altitude will affect you but with the support of the group you just aim to soldier on.. The cause itself was all the encouragement needed to get myself to the summit.”