Gemma tops target ahead of Everest climb

A hospital worker preparing to climb to Everest’s base camp has smashed her fundraising target.

Gemma Graham, 27, of Whiteness, needed to stump up £3,800 to allow her to go on the adventure – but she has managed to raise £4,300.

A series of events at the tail end of last year, including a special night in Poser’s nightclub which generated over £1,000, helped to secure the funds.

The money will go to Help for Heroes and NHS Shetland’s mental health department.

Miss Graham said she was “absolutely delighted” with her success – but she has her sights set on more fundraisers before she leaves in March.

“I’m going to continue to fundraise because I want to get as much as I possibly can,” she said. “It just means the pressure is off because if I didn’t achieve the target by a set date I wouldn’t have been able to go.”

As well as the Poser’s night – where Miss Graham’s Dad, a DJ at the venue in the late 80s and early 90s, made a popular comeback – events in 2017 included a pub crawl (which raised around £800), a raffle (again around £800) and dinners at the Gurkha Kitchen (£500-£600).

Before scaling Kilimanjaro in 2014, Miss Graham managed to raise £5,500. She will now use that figure as a new target.

Miss Graham’s journey to the Himalayas will begin on 17th March with a flight from Heathrow Airport.