TWO Wee County school pupils have completed a gruelling climbing challenge to raise money for charity.

Hana Littlejohn and Mark Forbes, both of whom attend Alva Academy, decided that during the summer they would like to test themselves while raising money for the school's Macmillan fund.

After much discussion they chose to do the Three Peaks challenge which entails climbing Britain's three tallest mountains: Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon – in less than 24 hours.

Not only did the pair, who are both 14-years-old, complete the three mountains, but they also did it with time to spare, albeit just 25 minutes.

Andrew Littlejohn, Hana's dad, was on hand with his friend to act as a support crew for the pair, and told the Advertiser how the idea came about.

He said: "They both wanted to help out with Alva's Macmillan appeal over the summer and decided that the Three Peaks was the way they would do it.

"It was good because neither of them had done anything of that nature before.

"My friend and I had done it before in 2011, but had a support crew with us but this time we were the support crew and done it as well, so it was pretty full on.

"We started with Ben Nevis, which I had climbed six or seven times before. It was quite tough and there was a bit of icy rain at the top.

"We then moved on to Scafell Pike, Cumbria, where the weather was really miserable, but Hana and Mark stayed in quite high spirits considering, before going down to Wales and climbing Snowdon."

The monumental challenge took the youngsters 23 hours and 35 minutes to complete – slightly to Andrew's surprise.

He said: "I was sceptical that they would do it in under 24 hours, but I was pleased they did.

"They were very tired and exhausted after it and slept most of the way back home."

All in, Hana and Mark have raised more than £600 for charity so far, much to the school's delight as Andrew revealed teachers had kept in contact during and after the challenge to see how they had got on.

He added that both of them had "caught the bug" and were now looking at taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh awards run by the school in the future.

If anyone would like to donate to Hana and Mark's cause, please visit justgiving.com/fundraising/hanaandmark