ALMOST 90 employees from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks, including one from Redditch, successfully climbed the UK’s highest mountain to raise more than £80,000 for Help the Hospices.

A total of 89 participants completed the spectacular ‘Trek the Ben’ fundraising challenge on Friday, September 5, climbing Ben Nevis in the latest phase of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks’ partnership with the UK’s leading charity for hospice care.

During the eight hour expedition, the group tackled rough terrain, steep climbs and snowy ground before finally crossing the boulder field to the summit cairn, reaching the highest point on the British Isles, at 1,343m above sea level.

Amanda Williams, aged 35, from Redditch works as a Yorkshire Bank customer service supervisor and successfully completed the trek. She said: “It was a challenging but fantastic and very rewarding experience to climb Ben Nevis in aid of Help the Hospices. The bank is supporting us by match funding every penny raised which was a great motivation along the way.”

David Praill, chief executive of Help the Hospices, said: “It was a fantastic experience and the team from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks showed amazing commitment to supporting Help the Hospices while trekking the Ben.”

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have been working in partnership with Help the Hospices for seven years raising more than £3.5million to date. The £80,000 expected to be raised from Trek the Ben’ includes match funding from the banks.