A MAGNIFICENT seven-strong team from a legal firm has completed an abseil challenge in support of a charity.

Staff from Clarke & Son Solicitors, based in Winchester Road, Basingstoke, have raised £55,000 for Ark Cancer Centre Charity since 2015, and they are on a mission to add a further £15,000 to that total in 2018-19.

The seven-strong team abseiled down the Emirates Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth on Bank Holiday Monday.

Taking on the 100-metre abseil was literally a big challenge for Amy Satele, Diane Thompson, Gemma Dixon, Jade Pym, Sian Barton and Charlotte Jelley, but the super six, plus last-minute addition Chris Dine who deputised for injured team member Jill Scott, proved they were up for the fundraising feat.

Cheered on by family and friends, the team rose to the challenge – and they have now added around £1,600 to Clarke & Son's 2018-19 running total which is nearing the £10,000 mark.

Mark Jones, director of fundraising and communications for Ark Cancer Centre Charity, said: “Congratulations to the super seven for chalking up yet another great fundraising feat by the Clarke & Son team. They are amazing supporters of Ark, and once again, members of the team have gone the extra mile to make a difference and raise vital funds.

“This was an awesome achievement by the seven abseilers, and Ark is grateful to all of them for undertaking this massive feat, and to everyone who sponsors them.”

Anyone who wants to sponsor the abseilers can still do so through https://app.thegoodexchange.com/fundraising-profile/20/darren-lovegrove.

Ark Cancer Centre Charity is raising £5million towards a new cancer treatment centre, and this sum will provide a range of support services and complementary therapies, alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.

Largely being funded by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), plans are progressing to locate the new cancer treatment centre on the existing Basingstoke hospital site.