OWNERS of an Urmston pub climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and trekked the Alps to raise over £20,000 for the Christie Hospital.

Staff at the Lord Nelson pub started raising the funds in September 2018 when they trekked across North Africa.

Ian and Julie Slamon finished at the end of 2019 with a huge £20,400 and said they felt incredibly proud of the achievement.

Mr Slamon, 53, said: “We’ve been doing these sorts of things for quite a few years now but we’ve been really pushing ourselves further these past couple of years.”

The money raised will be put towards replacing medical equipment at the Christie’s CT Department.

Challenges included climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in June last year and trekking the Alps by covering three countries in three days ­— Switzerland, France and Italy.

Mrs Slamon, 49, said: “That’s the thing that grabs people’s attention and then that raises awareness for the charity.”

When it came to climbing Kilimanjaro, Mr Slamon said: “I did it five years ago and I really trained hard for it. I didn’t have anyone to share it with but with strangers who have now become good friends.

“This time round, I got to do it with regulars from our pub.”

Mrs Slamon accompanied her husband on the trip to the Alps.

She said: “The Alps was amazing and I’ve always loved doing these treks.

“You get to see parts of a country you wouldn’t normally see as a tourist. You see it through the locals’ perspective.”

The Slamons have run the Lord Nelson for 20 years but it was not until 2010 when they decided to really push for the higher goals and, ultimately, raised £10,000 that year.

Mr Slamon said: “We could easily raise £2,000 to £3,000 with little effort but, as soon as you start doing bigger things, more people get behind you.”

Mr Slamon joked that the hardest challenge was the zip wire they did across Old Trafford Cricket Ground.”

He said: “The weather was absolutely atrocious and we ended up going down sideways!”

As part of the Joseph Holt chain, the pub has always had a history with the Christie since 1912.

Mr Slamon said: “It used to be that a penny for every pint went to the Christie but they stopped doing that back in 2000.”

Today, the pubs are required to raise a certain amount of money each year for the hospital with the Lord Nelson leading the way.

Mrs Slamon said: “We do Christie one year and then the following year, we do a smaller local charity.”

The couple said that they have future plans for their next fundraiser which they look forward to announcing soon.