We’re climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

We're going to Africa.

Come Sunday 31st January, 15 employees working on Britain's largest motoring website will attempt a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to climb the world’s highest free-standing mountain – Mount Kilimanjaro.

Africa’s highest peak – which stands at a whopping 5,895m – will house 15 Auto Trader personnel for one gruelling week as they climb through its treacherous plains to raise money for Willowbrook Hospice in St Helens.

Following a 10 month training plan the team will follow the less-trodden Machame route – a route which experiences extreme humidity thanks to dense forest, freezing moorland temperatures, and -30 degree weather at the highest point of the crater, Uhuru Peak.

Business analyst and senior charity rep Liam Power said: “This is the opportunity of a lifetime – we are raising vital money for a hospice.”

Creative services director Stuart Lowe – who undertook the gruelling 24hr National Peaks challenge to prepare – agrees.

He said: “I’m most looking forward to learning about a new culture during our trip”.

And in case team morale suffers during the intense climb, digital marketing executive Jason Messingham has a novel way of pushing forward.

“If the going gets really tough, what will keep me going is the fact that everybody back home will say ‘Chris Moyles made it, why couldn’t you’?”

Auto Trader’s target is to donate £35,000 towards the Willowbrook Hospice – a vital donation which will replace all the beds, and help with mattresses and linen – and welcomes donations from everyone.

To make a donation, visit our Just Giving donation site.

For more information about Auto Trader’s trip to Mount Kilimanjaro, log onto to www.kilimanjaro2010.co.uk.

Want to see how we're getting along? Follow the team's progress LIVE here.

Vijay Pattni.