Melksham teachers head for the summit (From Wiltshire Times)

Melksham teachers head for the summit

8:20am Monday 8th February 2010

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The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro will be the target for two primary school teachers from Melksham who are aiming to raise money for charities close to their hearts.

Assistant headteacher Lucy Swift, 41, and class teacher Fiona MacRae, 25, both from the Manor Primary School, in Ruskin Avenue, will tackle the 19,000ft mountain in the African country of Tanzania in June.

Miss Swift, who lives in Bristol, will be supporting the International Childcare Trust and hopes to raise around £5,000 for the cause, which she chose after seeing child poverty in Africa and Brazil some years ago.

She said: “I went to Kenya in the 1990s and I remember flying to Nairobi and seeing Mount Kilimanjaro from the plane and saying to myself I would climb it one day. I wanted to do it rather than just talk about it.”

Miss MacRae, who lives in Calne, said she had come to a point in her life were she wanted to challenge herself and try something different and this was the perfect opportunity.

She said: “I am raising money for Help for Heroes because my brother Andy, who is 24, is a marine. He was in Afghanistan for around seven months and came back last April, so it’s a charity very close to my heart.

“His girlfriend Hannah Cottrill is organising a family day to help raise more money on April 25, somewhere in Corsham, although we don’t have a location yet.

“This will be part of the fundraising and will include lots of activities, stalls, and hopefully some kind of army assault course and a dance performance.”

Both women said they have been really supported by the pupils. Three people with links to the school, including chairman of governors Beckie Raymond, will be having their heads shaved in February to boost funds for the climb.

Miss Swift and Miss MacRae will be joined on the climb by former Manor School teacher Hannah Brotherton, 24, who now teaches at Rowdeford School in Devizes. She is raising money for the NET Patient Foundation.

Fundraising events at the Manor School will include an Abba Tribute night on February 27, with tickets available from the school.

Anyone who wants to help the women’s fundraising can contact Miss Swift at assthead@themanor.wilts.sch.

uk.

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