Two sisters climbed the Great Wall of China to raise money and awareness for two charities as well as a tribute to the memory of the late Sharon Hard.

Krista and Nikki Rogers have spent the past year fundraising for Mind and the Alzheimer’s Society in preparation for the Great Wall of China charity challenge.

Together the sisters climbed more than 10,000 steps in September, in what they say was overall “a totally amazing experience”.

However, Krista explains that the trek itself was definitely a lot harder than both of them were expecting.

The days of trekking varied from five hours to their longest day of eight and a half hours through various terrains including extremely steep slopes, jungle, and stairs that they said were "so steep they looked like solid brick walls until you got closer".

Through the challenging bits, Krista would think of Sharon Hard, who was her boss at Overleat Residential Care Home for nine years and who died earlier this year.

“Whenever I got to a challenging part of the Great Wall, I was reminded of Sharon and her struggles. Such a beautiful lady and she taught me so many things. I’d like to say I did the trek in memory of her,” Krista said.

Also during her time at Overleat, Krista said she saw many individuals suffer from varying degrees of Alzheimer’s, which is why she chose the Alzheimer’s Society to support during her trek.

She said: “That magical moment when you see their spark come back in their eyes when a photo or a song jogs a memory is one of the best things I have ever witnessed. It’s like they have briefly been reborn.

“We need to cure this disease because I strongly believe that memories are what make us.”

Nikki picked Mind as her chosen charity because she wants to end the stigma surrounding mental health and to raise awareness about it.

She said: “Mind campaigns relentlessly to improve services and create a better understanding for those affected whilst providing online and face-to-face support in their many centres around the UK.”

The sisters said: “It was a totally amazing experience. We met some incredible people all raising money for different charities and everyone sharing their individual stories about why they selected their particular charity.

“But the beautiful thing about the charity challenge is the teamwork and support as everyone had their own struggles/challenges on the trek for different reasons. But there was always help and support on hand.”

Throughout the year, the pair have been hosting car boot sales with “kindly donated items” as well as tombola stalls at Kingsbridge Fair Week, Loddiswell Show and the Salcombe Town Regatta.

There are still a few days to donate to Krista and Nikki’s fundraising efforts, as the donation pages close on Sunday, October 14. To support either cause, visit Krista’s page at www.justgiving.com/kjr2018, or visit Nikki’s page www.virginmoneygiving.com/NikkiRogers.