A LOCAL school teacher raised over £5,000 in memory of her mother’s battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) - by braving the world’s highest zipwire.

Wendy Williams, who works at Ayr’s Wellington School, smashed her fundraising target when she took on the plunge between the two mountain peaks at La Tyrolienne in the French Alps.

Wendy was only aiming to raise £3230 to match the 3220 metres of altitude where the zipwire begins. But thanks to generous donations from the local community she collected a total of £5,504 for MND Scotland.

She decided to take up the challenge shortly after her mum, Jennifer Goodyear, was diagnosed with the condition in November last year.

Wendy said: “This charity is very close to my heart because of my mum’s situation and not only did I want to raise money for such a fantastic cause, but also raise awareness of MND.

“I had to prepare myself mentally, because I am not keen on heights, as well as physically, but it turned out to be one of the most exhilarating things I have ever done.

“I also am very grateful for the support I have had, including from Bannatyne’s health club at Ayr, with the generous donations I have received leading to me smashing the monetary target I had set myself. “

Wendy was backed with loads of support from family, friends and even her local gym, Bannatyne health club in Ayr who put her through her paces leading up to the event. The club further supported Wendy’s efforts by holding a Body Attack class to raise money for her good cause.

It was a case of third time lucky as the nerve-wracking adventure had to be postponed twice as the zipwire was closed due to bad weather.

The zipwire is more than 250 metres from the ground in parts, which is two-and-a-half times higher than the Statue of Liberty with participants experiencing speeds of more than 100km an hour.

Iain McWhirter, head of fundraising at MND Scotland, said “We are very grateful to Wendy for braving the world’s highest zipwire to raise such a large amount for our charity.

“Without the generosity of people like Wendy and those who have supported her, we would not be able to carry out our work to support those affected by MND and their family or conduct much-needed research.”