MORE than 50 staff at a Woking company braved an abseil down the side of their 120ft-high building to raise money for charity.

“Everyone had a great time,” said organiser Laura Turner, officer and support co-ordinator for Acosta Europe, based in Dukes Court, on the edge of the town centre.

“There were nerves from people as they waited at the top, but when they had completed it, most people wanted to do it again. Everyone overcame their fears, and everyone was supporting each other.”

Acosta Europe is a sales and marketing company. The team swapped their ground floor offices for views from the top of the Dukes Court building, taking on the challenge for GroceryAid, a charity that supports thousands of people across the industry.

A representative from the charity, Cath McCormick, attended the event, and enjoyed the abseil so much she did it twice.

Laura said 48 staff had signed up for the challenge, and then others who had watched it all day ending up giving it a go as well.

Laura had abseiled before – down Guildford Cathedral for Parkinson’s disease charities, and down the building at her previous job – and has tried a variety of other adrenalin activities, such as canyoning, rock climbing and cage diving with sharks.

She was very pleased with how the event went, and that it has so far raised more than £4,000 for charity.

“It was so good it stayed dry, and the sun came out. It would have been very different in the rain,” she said. “I think it’s fantastic that I work for a company that allowed us to do something like this, and which brought everyone together.”