Six Wiltshire Army Cadets and four of their instructors are taking part in a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest next month hoping to raise £8,000 for Help for Heroes.

Organising the trip are partners Amanda Rowley and Mark Calaz who are both cadet leaders. Ms Rowley is a lieutenant in the Devizes Army Cadet Force and Mr Cadaz is a captain and commanding officer of Calne ACF.

The four boys and two girls fly out to Katmandhu on October 24. From there they will catch a local flight to Lukla in the foothills of Mount Everest where they will start their long trek to its base camp, which is at an altitude of 5,500 metres.

Lt Rowley said: “We will be there for 18 days and will spend 11 days trekking, nine days up and two days down.”

The cadets, who come from units in Chippenham, Swindon, Devizes and Bulford, have all been selected because they are proven long distance walkers – four have completed the Ten Tors trek on Devon’s inhospitable Dartmoor – and each is having to raise £1,500 towards their costs.

Fundraising efforts so far have included bag-packing in local supermarkets, said Lt Rowley, who works for the Army at Bulford.

The Wiltshire group will have to carry a lot of equipment but will be staying overnight in the tea houses used by tourists who are brave enough to attempt to get to base camp.

The cadets can be sponsored via the website www.justgiving.com/cadetsfaceuptoeverestforh4h.