Through snow and ice and blistering heat a Helston mother has battled the elements and personal hardship to successfully complete the challenge of a lifetime.

Tara Trethowan trekked across 160km of Lesotho, South Africa to raise money for ChildLine. The six-day trek was the climax of months of campaigning, which helped her to raise just short of £4,000 for the children's charity.

Tara said: "This was a life changing experience which has had such a profound effect upon my life in many positive ways. It really makes you realise how very lucky we are and how much we take things for granted. This has been a fantastic experience and I have made some lifelong friendships along the way. Thank you to everyone that supported me and helped to make this happen."

Tara joined 35 other participants who were all there for the same cause, landing at Johannesburg International Airport at 6am where they were met by their expedition team. From there they travelled for six hours to Lesotho, from where the were split into two groups, to begin the trek the following day.

She explained that the walk took her through a whole range of emotions, from joy at the beautiful scenery to "some very scary times" when the group had to get down a mountainside, sometimes with little or no foot ledge and a 600m sheer drop.

On one day the group were asked to carry out a 1,164m climb up a mountain. They were told they wouldn't attempt it if there was the least sign of a cloud or rain, but to begin with sky was blue and sun blazing. It wasn't until five hours into the climb that the group noticed clouds had started to form.

"After a quick lunch we headed off along the top of the mountain for 7km - when the hail storm started. Hail pellets on naked calves is not fun at the best of times, but this was quite an awful little squall. It was relatively short (about an hour), but left a lasting impression," said Tara.

On the last day of trekking the two groups joined together again and walked the last few kilometres as a whole. "A running joke was the phrase, 'It's only around the next bend' - meaning you still had about 5km to go. Well, this last bit had about three 'next bends,' so we were a bit shattered by the end of it. But we had a big, red 'finish' line and banner and fizzy wine so a bit of jubilation and energy was injected back in to the group. A great night followed, with singing and drums and laughing - and probably far too many plastic mugs full of red wine at 30p per mug! Not to be sniffed at!" added Tara.

At the end of the trip, the participants were given a chance to experience a safari drive, on which they saw giraffes, wildebeest, rhinos, zebras and warthogs, as well as a brief glimpses of elephants and the rare sight of a lioness with a fresh kill. The grand finale was a gala dinner, before the final day was filled with a visit to a shelter for abused, abandoned, HIV positive, orphaned and terminally ill children.