Olympic medallist Tasha Danvers will be joining a group of fundraisers in a trek that will see them scaling Mount Kilimanjaro next month.

Tasha will be among a team of 15 trekkers, all raising awareness and money for London’s community HIV charity Positive East. She is an Olympic medallist in Beijing and has pledged her support to the community HIV charity by agreeing to trek Africa’s tallest mountain.

She said: “As an Olympian you often spend time having to be very selfish in order to achieve your goals. It’s so refreshing for me to be able to do something challenging for the benefit of others.”

Positive East’s team of 15 will take to the mountain for a gruelling week’s trekking from February 8, raising vital funds to ensure they can continue to provide their range of support groups targeted at east London’s growing HIV positive African community.

Tasha said: “Positive East’s work is hugely important to the communities of London. When I heard the Kilimanjaro Challenge would contribute to something which works right at the grassroots of our communities I couldn’t say no. It’s a fabulous project which helps hundreds of the neediest people in London to get back on their feet in the face of adversity and live full, healthy lives.”

The former track and field star hopes that by signing up to Positive East’s Kilimanjaro Challenge she can inspire other people around her to get involved.