DAREDEVILS braved the bad weather to scale down the side of a Worcester department store.

As onlookers clapped and cheered, 28 brave participants including the Mayor, councillor Lucy Hodgson, went down the side of Debenhams in High Street on Saturday.

They were all helping to raise money for Worcester-based bereavement charity Noah’s Ark Trust.

Coun Hodgson said: “It was exciting but quite scary and I had to learn to trust the guys with the rope. It was particularly scary going over the edge, but it was very good.”

It was the first time she had abseiled but had practiced earlier in the week in Malvern.

Community fund-raiser for north Worcestershire Hayley Fowler said even though it was the first time the charity had organised the event it had been a great success.

She said: “It was fantastic. We had about 28 people on the day and the mayor went down twice. We raised close to £5,000 which was about £3,000 more than we were expecting to raise, so that was fantastic.”

The trust is currently working closely with your Worcester News. It is looking for a new home within the heart of the communiy that it can rent at a peppercorn rate.

Mrs Fowler said each person taking part in the event had to raise a minimum of £50 in sponsorship.

The money will go towards helping the charity to continue providing a vital free service for children in Worc-estershire and Herefordshire.

She said: “A couple of people that did it came close to raising £1,000 in sponsorship on their own which is just unbelievable. We are just very grateful to everyone who did it. Despite the wet weather we carried on and we only had to stop briefly for the thunder and lightning. Everybody went down though, we didn’t have anybody back out.

“There was a nice atmosphere despite the weather. We will be doing it again next year.”

Mrs Fowler thanked the Army for helping to organise the event. She said: “They did a really good job and we would also like to thank Debenhams for letting us do it.”

Noah’s Ark Trust is now looking forward to its next fund-raising event – Run to Remember – on Sunday, Sept-ember 21. For more information call Hayley Fowler on 01905 745735, e-mail hayley.f@noahsarktrust.co.uk or visit noahsarktrust.co.uk