A group of intrepid partners and staff from business advisory firm Deloitte and property consultants Drivers Jonas Deloitte will be scaling new heights when they climb Mount Kilimanjaro, in October, in aid of charity.   

Jane Lodge, Rakesh Bodalia, Michelle Mitchell, Matt Dunn, Zoe Allen, Vishal Shah and Dinesh Subhra from Deloitte and Simon Zargar, Lucy Wilson and Fiona Brereton from Drivers Jonas Deloitte will be part of a 100-strong group from the firms leading the climb up the 5,985m (19,334 ft) mountain.

As the highest peak in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, it will take the climbers four days to reach the summit, and a further two to return to base.

More than £250,000 is expected to be raised from the event, which will be donated to Deloitte's national charity partners Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes and Children with Leukaemia, as well as the African Rainforest Trust.

Jane Lodge, partner and Midlands manufacturing industry leader at Deloitte, said: "Climbing one of the highest mountains in the world is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We're under no illusions that it's going to be a tough challenge, both physically and mentally, but as a team we know we can do it.

"We've also got the added motivation of it being for charity, which makes us even more determined to succeed. We'll get to the top even if we have to crawl on all fours."

With just one month to go until the group sets off for Africa, training is intensifying for the Deloitte and Drivers Jonas Deloitte team members.

Simon Zargar, graduate planner at Drivers Jonas Deloitte in Birmingham, said: "The team is extremely focused on ensuring we are fully prepared to for this once in a lifetime opportunity to surmount Mount Kilimanjaro. We are working out before and after office hours to improve our fitness and endurance levels and make sure we are in peak physical condition by October. We also have a packed weekend training calendar running up to the climb which so far has included conquering the Malvern Hills, a 28-mile trek in the Cotswolds and, most recently, an intensive training weekend in Snowdonia. 

"This will be the biggest challenge of physical and mental endurance that any of the Drivers Jonas Deloitte team have undertaken; we are determined to succeed and raise as much money as possible for charity in the process."

The Mount Kilimanjaro climb is part of Deloitte's ongoing fundraising efforts, which have seen the firm raise £1m in just one month for various good causes.

For more information about Driver Jonas Deloitte, please visit their website here: www.djdeloitte.co.uk