After an arduous seven-day trek, our 19 brave climbers reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, following the adventurous ‘Whisky Route’. They faced many challenges including a snow blizzard as they stepped from their tents at midnight ready for the final push to the summit.

The team, which included chairman Dr Mark Martin and managing director Simon Bruce, proved to be a family affair with many of our climbers bringing along partners and relatives. It was the second time on the mountain for financial planner Hugh Davies who last completed the trip 19 years ago. Now 51, Hugh said this time around it was certainly more difficult but his spirits were boosted by climbing with his son Bryn and daughter Holly. Assistant financial planner Elliot Lund brought along his brother Oliver, a serving policeman from Western Australia.

The Cavendish climbers were also joined by three volunteer doctors: orthopaedic surgeon Mr Matthew Oliver, hepatologist Dr James O’Beirne and anaesthetist Dr Tim Peters.

Dr James O’Beirne, 41, is based at the Royal Free Hospital in London and has a private practice at The Wellington. He said: “The climb was certainly tough in parts but the support from the team was fantastic. The highlight for me was setting off for the summit at midnight in the snow. It helped that it was dark – if I could have seen the task ahead in daylight it would’ve been much harder.”

The money raised was donated to Dementia UK, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, Joint Action (the research arm of the British Orthopaedic Association) and RLSB (helping blind and partially sighted young people).