DALE-based mountaineer Alan Hinkes helped raise hundreds of pounds for an appeal to aid a mountain rescue team.
Mr Hinkes was the guest speaker at Penrith Rotary Club’s 74th annual charter celebration, which was held online due to the current Covid-19 restrictions.
Mr Hinkes is an honorary member of the club and has supported its efforts for a number of years.
His chosen charity for the night was the Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team Command Vehicle Fund.
The team is trying to raise £80,000 to purchase and convert a VW van into a mobile command centre to replace the converted horsebox they currently use for this purpose.
In all, £435 was raised during the charter night, which saw 57 members and guests log in on the Zoom platform.
Mr Hinkes gave a talk entitled Himalayan Climbing: Everest, K2 & all 14 8,000m peaks, describing how he became the first Briton to climb the world’s 14 highest mountains, joining an exclusive club of climbers who have achieved this feat.
Penrith Rotary’s John Shorter said: “Clearly Alan has an amazing story to tell and we were enthralled for about an hour as he presented photographs and video clips of his exploits in the high mountains of the Himalaya and Karakorum.
“Hopefully we will have helped in some small way towards the rescue team.”
