A STORE manager has described her latest charity challenge as the scariest thing she has done in her life – abseiling 100 metres down the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.

Five Southern Co-op colleagues from Alton lined up to descend the iconic landmark on August 11 and raised £1,130 for The Rhiannon Trust.

The team, comprising Jane Dickerson, Sherrie Woodward, Bev Taylor, Kieran Hunt and Jo Turner, all went through with the drop - but not all of them would do it again.

Store manager Jan said: “Well the abseil happened. And I’m not going to lie, I hated it. I’ve never been so scared in my life.

“But the whole team were fantastic. We all completed the abseil even though a few of us didn’t think we were going to.

“I’m glad I did it but won’t be doing it again. The good thing is the amount of money we raised for The Rhiannon Trust.”

The Rhiannon Trust is the Alton store’s chosen charity as part of Southern Co-op’s community engagement programme Love Your Neighbourhood, which aims to address four key social themes for promoting greener, healthier, safer and more inclusive neighbourhoods.

But it is also a charity close to their hearts as it was set up in memory of their colleague Beth Dye’s sister, Rhiannon Earp, who died aged 16 from complications of pneumonia.

The charity helps families who are going through the same loss to afford the cost of a funeral and to provide equipment for other children with disabilities.

Colleagues have held various fundraisers, including raising £1,400 from a sponsored skydive.