Kilimanjaro walk for Treehouse Appeal raises £50,000

Mark Loades, Lesley Dolphin and Steve Flory count up the donations

The Treehouse Appeal walk up Mount Kilimanjaro has reached a new fundraising peak of £50,000.

A team of 14, including BBC Suffolk presenter Lesley Dolphin, climbed Africa's highest mountain in January.

They had a target of raising £30,000 towards the £3m appeal for a new children's hospice in Ipswich.

"I never expected we would exceed it," said Steve Flory, the businessman who organised the trip. "It just shows the generosity of everybody."

Mark Loades, the Treehouse Appeal development officer, said: "People really have taken this to their heart.

"We really have been blown away by everything everyone has been doing for us for the past ten months.

"Once we get into that new building, everyone will be able to drive past with their head held high and say 'I helped build that' and that's what we want."

Mr Flory said: "Before we set off, I did think £30,000 might be difficult to achieve and thought about reducing it at one point.

"Could I just thank all of the 13 other people who went because it was a bit of a madcap scheme.

"Everyone dug in, paid their own way and all of this can go straight to the Treehouse Appeal."