Five staff members at franchise chain Northwoods are to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

They are doing so in memory of Northwood managing director Nick Cooper, who died just over a year ago from the disease.

The Northwood Foundation was launched in May in Cooper’s memory, as a tribute to a man who contributed much to the business and to the lettings industry as a whole.

The Foundation’s charity this year is the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund.

The charismatic Cooper, who was chairman of the SAFEagent steering group, was killed by a disease with very poor survival rates – just three in over 100 people live for five years after diagnosis.

Northwood have set themselves an ambitious target of raising £20,000 by 2015 to coincide with its 20th year anniversary of trading and it is hoped that the seven-day climb up Africa’s highest mountain will help reach that goal.

The five undertaking the climb are CEO Gemma Goodson, directors Nick Harris, Stuart Calvert and Stephen Summerhayes, and Bristol office team member Jack Honeyford.

They are pictured in training with a trek up Mount Snowdon.

A Northwood Foundation Just Giving page has been set up at

https://www.justgiving.com/Northwood-Charitable-Foundation/

or you can contribute by texting either £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 to 70070 using the code TNCF99.