A BUSINESS whose staff trekked from river deep to mountain high for charity, is boxing clever in a bid to reach its own £50,000 target.

Staff from The High Street Group of Companies, based in Newcastle, have raised more than £40,000 for cancer charities such as Macmillan Cancer Support and St Oswald’s Hospice. The majority of the funds came from a sponsored 50 mile walk in the Grand Canyon and climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, but coffers have been boosted through a series of office based events.

The company will again support Macmillan Cancer Support by staging a charity boxing evening in a bid to raise a further £10,000 for a new initiative– The Macmillan Supportive, Palliative and End of Life Service within the North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

The event will be at the Hilton Hotel, Gateshead, on Thursday, December 13. There will be four professional bouts, a charity auction, entertainment and dancing.

Fighters include Chad Ellis, Darren Reay, Jay Hughes and Kyle Redfearn who train at the MTK gym in Gateshead, owned by High Street Group Chairman Gary Forrest.

Mr Forrest said: “Most of us have been affected by cancer, either personally or through a family member or friend, so we’ve been supporting cancer charities for the past three years. We hope this event will push us beyond the £50,000 mark and all the money raised will go to a new service which is doing such fantastic work in our region.”

The service trains paramedics and ambulance clinicians to deliver appropriate treatment within the home, aiming to reduce unnecessary admissions to hospital and is available for any palliative and end of life patient, not just those with cancer.

Macmillan Nurse Facilitator Sarah Turnbull, who has worked as a Macmillan nurse within the community for nearly 10 years, is leading the new team at North East Ambulance Service.

She said: “A good death doesn’t just affect the person who is at the end of their life; it has a lasting impact on their loved ones. We only have one chance to get it right. So we are very grateful for this support from The High Street Group, which will make a real difference to our patients and their families.”