RAF Marham personnel take on virtual climb of Mount Everest for Fund

On 8 November, a group of serving personnel based at RAF Marham will be taking part in a virtual Stairmaster climb, equivalent to the height of Mount Everest, to raise money for the Fund.

The nine personnel involved serve with 15 Squadron RAF Regiment and will be completing the event in Irbil, Iraq.

The team, ages 22 to 38, consists of AS1 Melkin, AS1 Barnett, AS1 Walker, AS1 Stenning, AS1 Ellis, LCpl Davies, Cpl Fothergill, Cpl Townend and Flying Officer Macdonald. 

They will be climbing 2,061 floors on the Stairmaster wearing 15kg of body armour. They have estimated that at a steady pace they can complete their challenge in 11 hours with each person doing a minimum of 300 floors.

Corporal James Townend, who has served for 13 years and is Section Commander of the detachment in Iraq, said: “I have chosen to raise money for the Fund as even though I haven’t used the Fund’s services myself, I have worked with colleagues both serving and veterans who have, and it has helped them massively in a time of need.”

He continued: “We decided to sign up to do this as an activity that will bring the men together to complete an arduous task but also raise money for a great cause.

“Due to the job role, our team have a good level of fitness prior to attempting this. To increase the ease of the event the lads have been spending time on the stair stepper with added weight to condition themselves.”

The team have raised over £450 for the Fund so far. You can donate to the team’s fundraiser on JustGiving.