A former head boy and head girl of Pembroke School will soon be crossing paths on the 5,895 metre summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya.

While Paul Guest, a physics and philosophy student, and law student Rebecca Hughes, have been studying at different universities, the students have both signed up to take part in the epic climb in September to raise funds for Childreach International.

As well as taking on the world’s highest freestanding mountain in a five-and-a-half day climb (and two day descent), the young adventurers will be given the opportunity to remain in Africa and experience first hand how the volunteer work benefits poverty-stricken children.

“I volunteered for this charity because of the effective way it distributes its funds,” said Paul, aged 21, from Cosheston.

“It was founded by a group of students who visited then lived in the countries it supports.

“They have a realistic view of what needs to be done and have efficient methods of raising money and attracting volunteers without losing it to governments, bureaucracy or importation and exportation costs.”

Following his summer exams at York University, Paul has stepped up his training regime – but admits that altitude sickness is a real worry.

“There’s no correlation between how fit you are and how sick you get at those heights,” he said.

Having met the costs of the trip, Paul has also thrown himself into a fundraising campaign to meet the £2,200 personal target set by Childreach International.

He has raised several hundred pounds through street collections, raffles, bag-packing, quiz nights and even pub crawl collections, but without the full amount he cannot take part.

Nottingham University student Rebecca, aged 19, of Pembroke Dock, is faced with the same predicament, but the former head girl believes it to be a ‘life-changing’ experience that she simply couldn’t turn down.

“I am so nervous about the trek,” she said.

“I know it will be pushing myself to the limit – enduring temperatures from 40 degrees at the bottom to minus 20 degrees at the top and trekking for hours each day – but I am sure that when I reach the summit, the sense of achievement will make all the negative points worthwhile.”

Secure online donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/paulrguest (for Paul’s campaign) and www.justgiving.com/lucyrebeccahughes (for Rebecca’s campaign).