Funeral Director Abbie Reeve has fought her fear of heights by scaling the O2 Arena to raise funds for Windsor's Thames Hospice.

Abbie, of E Sargeant & Son Funeral Directors in Slough did the big climb up the iconic London building with her sister Paige Reeve.

She set up a donation page and spread the word to local ministers, hospitals, funeral celebrants, crematoria and cemeteries with help from Sargeant's operations manager Mark Clements.

Abbie said: “I’m not particularly keen on heights and it took a lot of willpower to do. But knowing the money we were raising would dramatically improve the quality of life for those with serious illnesses got me over the fear.

“The glass of champagne we reserved to have on the roof was also a great incentive to get me up there.”

The event raised £800 for the hospice, which cares for adults with life-limiting illnesses across East Berkshire and South Buckinghamshire. The current hospice is in Hatch Lane but is the charity is currently running a £3million fund raising campaign to pay for a new larger building being constructed near Bray Lake.

Mark Clements also raised over £500 towards the goal by opening a donation page and completing a sponsored bike while suffering an ongoing heart condition, cycling 34 miles from London to Windsor in three hours.

He said: “I have good and bad days with my heart condition so I’m never sure if what I plan for will actually be deliverable.

“This bike ride was a real personal challenge for me.

“The new hospice which Thames Hospice is building is really coming along, so every penny really does count.

E Sargeant & Son have branches in Slough, Maidenhead and Windsor, which are all working tirelessly towards a target of £50,000 to raise for the hospice over a five year period.