THREE dedicated fundraisers will be swapping the Cleveland hills for Mount Kilimanjaro as they plan to set off on an epic fundraising expedition.

Paul Williams, his partner Claire Starkey and Darren Anderson will be tackling Africa’s highest mountain to raise essential money for the Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team.

The challenge to climb the Tanzanian peak in aid of the voluntary rescue team is something close to the heart of one of the trio.

Mr Williams, who has set up a fundraising page for the challenge, said: “Climbing the highest free standing mountain in Africa has been an ambition of ours for many many years.

“Now is the time to stand up to the plate. Claire, myself and my Brother in law, Darren are climbing the mighty Kilimanjaro.

“This trip is paid for in advance and and 100 per cent of your donation goes to charity as we wanted to raise money and awareness of this local charity.

“Claire is a member of Cleveland Mountain rescue who do a fantastic job keeping people safe in and around the North York moors. Therefore we have chosen to support this very worthy cause.

“We are training hard but ultimately success will be down to our ability to cope with the the altitude. So, fingers crossed.”

The team is a charity whose fifty members are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and go to the help of people lost or injured on the North York Moors. None of the Team is paid for their services and the Team receives little official funding.

The annual running costs of the team is £30,000 with the funds raised through various charitable means such as street collections, sponsored events, giving talks and collecting boxes in pubic places such as pubs and cafes.

Last year the Team were called out a total of 37 times with incidents ranging from fallen hill walkers to crashed mountain bikers and from lost scouts to people missing in a depressed state.

Team spokesman Pete Mounsey said: “It’s fantastic that members of the public think of raising money for us though challenging sponsored activities. We cannot provide our live saving service without them and wish them luck in their quest.”

To make a donation visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Paul-Claire176