TWO Witney care workers bridged a 38-year age gap to climb the highest mountain in England and Wales and raise almost £300 for charity.

Sue Walker, 59, and Ruby Sheldon, 21, work at Newland House care home and scaled Mount Snowdon last week.

The duo raised £280 for The Care Workers Charity and Mrs Walker said supporting an organisation close to their hearts enhanced the sense of achievement on reaching the summit.

She said: “The views were absolutely spectacular and it was more special because it meant something to us personally and work-wise.

“It showed what you can achieve if you push yourself and it makes everything you’ve gained mean more."

She added: “I would recommend it to anyone. Even though there’s an age gap, the pictures reflect the bond we felt for achieving it and raising money for charity.”

While Mrs Walker has been a care worker for years, Ms Sheldon is relatively new to the profession and started work at Newland House straight after leaving school.

The pair have known each other for years and had been planning to scale a mountain for six months before deciding on Snowdon in April.

Senior care worker Mrs Walker, who has worked at Newland House for 15 years, had climbed the 1,085-metre peak once before and suggested the challenge to Ms Sheldon.

However they were plagued by problems even before their attempt to scale the mountain.

A six-hour journey from West Oxfordshire to Wales on Monday due to heavy traffic, followed by a midnight fire alarm at their hotel, was hardly ideal preparation for their 6am start on Tuesday June 12.

After setting off at 7.30am they followed the mountain’s Miners Path to reach the summit, before descending down the Pyg trail to complete the challenge in five-and-a-half hours.

They drove home that afternoon in time for their shift the following day and Mrs Walker hinted another charity trek could already be on the horizon.

She said: “The feedback from the residents and relatives has been very positive.

“It’s made us realise this is such a bonding experience and if people did more of this it would really bond staff together.”

The money goes to The Care Workers Charity, which aims to ensure the nearly two million care workers in Britain will never face financial hardship during their career or in retirement.

And Mrs Walker claimed the funds would go a long way in an industry she feels is often taken for granted.

She said: “Care work is incredibly hard and I don’t think people realise how hard it is sometimes.

“We’d all like to think that if we got to that age there would be someone there to look after us.”