Rather than soaking up the sun, this weekend, five support assistants scaled a 110ft building before abseiling back down it, to raise money for elderly residents.

The fabulous five from Treetops, Epping, have raised hundreds of pounds after taking on the Church Langley Water Tower.

All of the money raised is going towards improving the garden, which the 53 residents at the home in Station Road love to spend time in.

Fifty-year-old Jean Clark, who was the eldest of the group, says that coming down was the easy part.

She said: “Getting up the stairs was the hard bit, there were 134 steps.

“Once you were up there it was fun. I just flew down it.

“It was discussed in a meeting after a relative suggested the idea.

“We just wanted to raise as much as we could so that the residents could have a garden. Loads of them go out there but there isn’t really anything for them to do.

“We aren’t sure how much we have raised but we think it’s going to be more than £600. We are going to be able to buy them the bits and pieces they need to do a bit of gardening and plant some flower beds. It’s what they wanted.”

Jean was joined by Janine Hunter, Kelly Pamphilon, Karen Hawes and Heidi Perry who all work at Treetops. Another member of staff had to drop out due to illness, but was replaced by the friend of one of the staff.

Manager Della Johnson said that she could not have been more pleased.

She said: “I am so proud of all the girls, they did so well. I think I was more nervous than they were.

“The residents and relatives have been really supportive.”