Kilimanjaro hula-hoop bid for charity

A WOMAN plans to hula-hoop on her way to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for her best friend with cancer.

Julianne McGregor will hula-hoop along the route up Africa’s highest mountain and hopes to spin a few circles at the top.

The 27-year-old, who works in human resources, is raising cash for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) to support her American friend Megan Houchins, who has thyroid cancer. Miss Houchins, 31, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, has been battling the disease since she was 21.

Australian Miss McGregor, who now lives in Highbury, London, said: “I’m doing this for my close friend Megan, who is currently fighting cancer, and for all other cancer sufferers. I also lost my aunt to pancreatic cancer many years ago, so cancer research is a cause very close to my heart.”

Miss McGregor will climb Mount Kilimanjaro in September and hopes to raise £3,350 for WCRF. She said: “I’m not going to hula-hoop the entire way, but when I find decent points on the way up I shall have a little hula. My aim is to get as close to the summit as I can and hula-hoop at the very top.

To sponsor Julianne, visit www.wcrf-uk.org/sponsor. Her progress can be followed at www.youtube.com/hulajules