AN OSWESTRY woman has climbed one of the World’s highest mountains to raise more than £2,000 for charity.

Caroline Jones who works at Head Office salon on Willow Street, travelled to Tanzania to climb to one of Kilimanjaro’s three summits to raise money for multiple sclerosis (MS) charities.

After a six-day climb and descent and a battle with altitude sickness, Caroline reached the top of Africa’s tallest mountain.

Her climb raised a total of £2,329.20 which was split between a national MS charity and Oswestry MS Society.

Caroline decided to do the climb in aid of MS charities after her mother was diagnosed with the disease before she passed away aged 40.

She said: “Climbing Kilimanjaro was something I had wanted to do for a while, so I thought it’d be a good idea to do it for charity.

“I wanted a challenge and it was good to be able to do it for such a good cause.”

Caroline’s hair salon took donations to ensure that some of the funds raised would be donated to the Oswestry MS Society, meaning she raised £1,204.20 for them.

She added: “I wanted to be able to donate some money locally for people in the area to benefit from.

“It was definitely worth it in the end – it was the most difficult and amazing thing I’ve ever done, and I was able to meet so many lovely people.

“I was up mountains training every weekend training and felt like my fitness was good, but the altitude up there is very overwhelming.

“When I got to base camp, I saw a lady being stretchered down which was almost enough to put me off continuing!

“It was a bit of a blur getting to the top – it was quite emotional. The altitude up there affects you a lot.”

Caroline went on to thank everyone who kindly donated money at the salon, and all those who offered her support.

Taylor Sheppard, group leader at the Oswestry MS Society, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for Caroline to have climbed Kilimanjaro.

“We know here it means a lot to her to be able to raise funds for us after her mum had MS.

“We’re extremely grateful for the money she has raised for our group that will now be used to help our members locally.”