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.

Gemma Graham will head to the Himalayas in two months’ time.

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.

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