More than 20 members and supporters of Age Concern Benalmádena/Fuengirola/Mijas took part in the charity's annual fundraising challenge last Friday. The first major event for the charity since before the lockdown, the daredevil senior citizens signed up for a flight on the new zip wire attraction at the Sunview Adventure Park in Alhaurín de la Torre.

Organisers had feared that the flight might have had to have been cancelled due to high winds and bad weather conditions, but, fortunately, the event was able to go ahead.

The fearless participants were launched in a superman pose at speeds of up to 100 kilometres an hour on the 1,350-metre-long zip wire, the longest in Andalucía.

President, David Long (82), a former motorcycle racer and someone who has no fear of hair-raising activity, was the first to be launched, followed by the rest of the brave participants, all of whom said that they "thoroughly enjoyed" the experience.

Along with members of Age Concern, the event was supported by the La Cala de Mijas Lions Club, and the Mijas-based Simply Surviving support group, who had chosen Age Concern as its designated monthly charity.

Simply Surviving co-founder Alan Boardman said, "Five intrepid members of our group took part in the challenge. We expect to raise around 2,000 euros in sponsors, so that puts the seal on a wonderful experience."

Age Concern members are no strangers to valorous activity: previous challenges have included the cross-border zip wire from Spain to Portugal, a sky dive in Seville and abseiling down the side of the Sunset Beach Hotel in Benalmádena.

Secretary Steve Marshall told SUR in English that he was "delighted" at the amount of support the challenge had received, adding that he was hopeful that the money raised would be more than in previous years.

"It will be a little while until all the sponsorship money is collected and counted, but we are confident that it will be the best so far. All of us at Age Concern wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to our brave and slightly crazy flyers and their sponsors, as well as for the help and support provided by Simply Surviving. We could not have done this without the continued support of the local community," the secretary explained.