MOUNT Kilimanjaro has been conquered by two friends from Winsford to raise money for a global children’s charity.

Steve Cockburn and Ewelina Stachowiak, also known as Eve, spent eight days scaling the highest mountain in Africa.

Steve, 27, and Ewelina, 26, raised £3,875 for Plan UK, who work with children in the world’s poorest countries.

“I had done other charity challenges before so was fairly relaxed about training – but the pain I felt in my legs afterwards, that was tough,” said Steve, a senior surveyor for real estate services and investment firm, CBRE.

Steve had planned to scale the mountain with colleague Tom Smith, but he was forced to pull out due to illness.

Eve, a sales manager for James Walker in Crewe, stepped in late in the day to rescue the killer challenge.

“It was an absolutely fantastic trek, although hard. We went through so many different landscapes, from desert to rainforest," Steve said.

“It gradually got colder and at one point it actually started snowing, which was a really magical moment.

“We reached the summit at 6am on the sixth day. Being on the peak of the mountain was just spectacular.

“We just had time to take photos and saw the sun rising about the layer of clouds, it was the most amazing thing to watch.”

Plan UK works in partnership with CBRE on a major education project in Sierra Leone, focusing on helping girls to go to school.

“I like working with charities that do something for children and it gave us an extra bit of incentive to complete the challenge,” Steve said.

“Education is such a great thing and so important, particularly for girls. We’re really grateful for all the support, even a small amount can have such a big impact.