A COURAGEOUS climber has scaled thousands of feet to raise money for a community shop.

Joanne Colyer, 60, from Gosfield, climbed a pair Scottish Munros to fundraise to save the village’s community shop.

The store has operated from a portable building for the past five years.

Planning permission was granted by Braintree Council on the understanding that the shop could operate from a permanent facility rather than from a temporary building.

The shop has permission to build an extension to the adjacent sports pavilion as its permanent home, which would cost about £150,000.

However, Braintree Council has refused to extend the consent of the temporary building and has issued an enforcement to close order with effect from October.

Joanne climbed up the 1,000m Scottish peaks Beinn Achaladair and Beinn a’ Chreachain with brother Ian Tolfts, who climbs them regularly.

She said that whilst the climb was much harder than anticipated, the experience and success of completing the challenge made up for it.

Joanne said: “The whole thing was much harder than I thought, and without the walking poles I might not have managed it.

“It took ten hours, and it was much harder coming down than going up.

“We obviously had two descents and by the end I was exhausted and beginning to stumble.

“I don’t think I will do it again, but I felt such a sense of achievement and was on such a high after.”

Joanne added that it was important to raise money for the shop and told of a new possible lifeline for the community hub.

She said: “The fact that it goes to the community shop is great.

“People have donated about £500 which has gone through the page, but I have had other cash donations too and I think I am up to about £700.

“The National Lottery also came to see us on the day I went up to see if they can help with a grant and were impressed with the fundraisers.

“We still have another couple of stages to go through for that, but fingers crossed we hear back soon.”

You can donate to the cause on the JustGiving page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gosfield-shop.