Edinburgh schoolboy, 14, climbs Mount Kilimanjaro for charity after being inspired by teacher

A 14-year-old schoolboy from Edinburgh has conquered the highest mountain in Africa to raise money for a Scottish charity providing school meals in the world’s poorest communities.

Lochlan McCole, a pupil at Stewart's Melville College, scaled Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania after being inspired by a teacher to support the charity’s efforts.

The gruelling six-day challenge culminated in the 14-year-old and his family walking throughout the night to reach the summit of the 5,895m-high peak in below freezing temperatures.

Lochlan McCole took on the challenge for charity after being inspired by his teacher | Mary's Meals

Mr McCole said: “I learnt about Mary’s Meals from my religious, moral and philosophical studies teacher Mr Park. He goes to Malawi quite a lot and he taught us about the charity.

“The children they support have been dealt a really tough hand in life and I thought that any help we can give to them means a lot. It goes a long way, so I wanted to do my bit.”

Recalling the challenge, Mr McCole said: “It was not too hard until the summit day when we had to wake up at 11pm to walk in the dark.

The McCole family on Kilimanjaro. Left to Right: Selina, Lochlan, Luke and Derek | Mary's Meals

“But the actual walking was OK, my legs weren’t too tired. It went down to -12C at the top, that was probably the toughest part.

“Raising money for charity was a really good motivation. We’d raised a lot of money before the climb and I felt like we would have let people down if I hadn’t got to the top, so that was a good motivation to keep going.”

Mary’s Meals, founded in 2002, supports over 2.6 million children across 16 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, providing free meals every school day.

Mr McCole has so far raised more than £1,000 for the challenge. He was joined on the climb by mother Selina, father Derek and his 16-year-old brother, Luke.

The McCole family getting ready for their gruelling climb | Mary's Meals

“I’m super proud of him,” said his mother.

“He’s just 14 and he showed such mental toughness to do it. You need to dig really deep. It’s a big ask and I’m so proud of him and his brother.”

Sally Davidson, supporter engagement officer for East Scotland at Mary’s Meals, said: “When I heard that Lochlan was planning to climb Kilimanjaro for Mary’s Meals, I was in awe, so you can imagine how impressed and thankful I was when I heard that he’d successfully summitted the mountain and raised £1,000, enough to feed 52 children for a whole year.”