Former Olympic athletes Steve Cram and Alison Curbishley have completed one of their biggest challenges yet and scaled the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Having reached the top of Africa's highest peak, they unfurled a Sunderland 2018 World Cup bid flag, only to later find out they weren't the first to achieve the feat!
The North East couple were accompanied to the roof of Africa by 19 others, all climbing to raise funds for the charity COCO (Comrades of Children Overseas), and to fly the flag for Sunderland's bid to host World Cup football matches in 2018.
Steve Cram, an official Sunderland 2018 bid champion, said:
"Kilimanjaro was one of the most demanding challenges we have ever taken on and there were times when we wondered whether we'd get to the top. However, we were raising funds for some really important COCO projects and that drove us on.
"The other task we were determined to complete was getting a Sunderland 2018 Host City bid flag to the summit of the mountain. It was a considerable size, so it wasn't easy, but we just about managed. Imagine our shock when we learned that someone had beaten us to it a few weeks before and already taken the Sunderland bid to the roof of Africa!
"We really couldn't believe that. Congratulations to them (through slightly gritted teeth), though I should point out that our flag was bigger, and heavier, than theirs!"
Steve and Alison were beaten to the top by sixteen-year-old Alex Munro from Sutton Coldfield and his climbing partner Claire Harrison, who completed the most arduous route up the 19,331 ft mountain to hoist the Sunderland 2018 flag last month.
Alex, the nephew of European Cup winning goalkeeper and Black Cats coach Nigel Spink, completed the climb to raise funds for an orphanage in Tanzania, which the club provided with new football kits to accompany his donation.
Steve Cram's charity COCO, which he founded in 2000, helps to fund children's projects in a range of developing countries - primarily in Africa- and has so far generated in excess of £1.3m for its causes.
The COCO team hopes to raise over £70,000 from its Kilimanjaro challenge, a large proportion of which will go towards the building of classrooms for the Londoto Primary School in an impoverished area of Tanzania. The school is currently severely under resourced and children of all ages either have to share a single classroom or have their lessons outside.
Planks of wood are used as blackboards and twigs are used as counters to teach maths. With the help of COCO's funds, the school will be renovated and properly equipped so that local children will be able to benefit from an improved education and a brighter future.
Nail Quinn, chairman of Sunderland AFC, said: "The efforts of Steve, Allison, Alex and Claire to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro and fly the flag for the Sunderland 2018 bid while raising money for some truly fantastic causes, have been tremendous.
"Sunderland AFC is a big supporter of many projects that involve or help young people at home and abroad, particularly through the award winning work of the SAFC Foundation. One of our key objectives if we succeed in bringing World Cup football to the city and the region, will be to use the power of football to enrich lives both here and around the world and create a powerful and lasting legacy for generations."
To find out more about COCO and its projects or make a donation visit www.coco.org.uk. Also, show support for Sunderland's 2018 bid simply log onto www.sunderland2018bid.com.
