A Worcestershire mum-of-two is joining an all-women group heading for the heights of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Karen Holgate, head of the Victim Support witness service at the crown court and magistrates court in Worcester, will be setting off for the 10-day challenge later this month.

She will be part of the first all-women group all raising money for the same charity to take on the mountain. The women are from all over the country, with ages ranging from the youngest at 16 to the oldest at 60 who will be raising funds for the victim support service.

“They are all women who work for the service or have been helped by it,” said the 38-year-old, of Hurcot Road, Kidderminster, the only member of the group from the West Mercia police area.

She said she had been training by going to the gym and walking at weekends as well as meeting up with the rest of the group for a trial run up Mount Snowdon in Wales, though she knows that at 20,000 feet, the highest mountain in Africa is a bigger task.

She said: “I have been doing some training for a while now and I just hope it will be enough.

The group will set off for Tanzania on Friday, February 15, and will take five days to walk up the trails with the final steepest part of the climb taking 14 hours. They will be camping during the night and the descent is expected to take two days.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” said Karen, who is being backed all the way by partner Chris and her children, 20-year-old Sharice and Lauren, aged 17. “It’s an exciting challenge.”

To sponsor Karen, go to justgiving.com/Karen-Holgate.