Two friends working for a Newham charity are training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise £10,000 for a children’s hospice.

Georgia Holleran, 46, and Mehgul Khan, 31, both work for Newham Education Business Partnership (NEBP) and they will tackle the 19,000ft climb from March 14 to 24 in aid of Richard House Children’s Hospice in Beckton.

The pair have already raised nearly £5,000 online and through friends, family, and local schools who they have good contacts with as the NEBP help students get better work experience to improve their opportunities in the future.

Mehgul said: “It was whilst walking over the old millennium dome, doing ‘Up at the O2’ one night that we decided to take on the challenge of climbing a mountain - something we have both wanted to do.

“We talked about who we could raise money for and being based in Newham we already knew about Richard House and the incredible work they do.”

Georgia said: “We are quite nervous, but looking forward to it as well. The training is tricky because it’s a walk essentially, although it is steep and the biggest challenge is dealing with the altitude, and you don’t know how you will react to that until the day.”