KNUTSFORD and Holmes Chapel Cheshire Fire cadets have returned from the trip of a lifetime after helping to build a school in Nepal.

Lois Beeson from Knutsford Fire Cadets, Jessica Lee, Jessica Leighton, Ryan Lysycia and Lydia Stanley-Dale from Holmes Chapel fire cadets, and Holmes Chapel leader Jen Regan met the children who will now benefit from the newly built school in the village of Thulodhunga in the Basa region, and attended the opening ceremony.

The group included 15 cadets and nine leaders who raised all the money themselves to fund the trip which was over £75,000.

The new brick school is a safe and clean learning environment, creating a huge contrast to the tents that people have been living in since the earthquake six months ago.

Lydia Stanley-Dale, a fire cadet from Holmes Chapel said: “This was a life-changing opportunity for us all but more importantly we got to help children in Nepal to achieve a better life and get an education.

“I’d never flown in a plane before so that was a challenge in itself. Trekking up and down a mountain to get to the village was really hard and sleeping in a tent for a week in freezing cold temperatures wasn’t good either, but seeing the children’s faces when we handed over the new school made it all worthwhile. I would go back tomorrow in a flash if I could.”

The group flew to Kathmandu on October 24 and trekked on foot through the Himalayas to get to the village of Thulodhunga, where the school had already been built by local people.

Working with charity Classrooms in the Clouds the cadets spent two weeks in Nepal where they painted walls, made steps, cleaned windows and floors and put up notice boards. They also painted a mural on the side of the building with their names on it.

Nick Evans, head of prevention, accompanied the group to Nepal. He said: “I have never been more proud. The Cheshire Fire Cadets conquered fears and walked until they couldn’t walk any more to get to this village. The sheer determination they had from start to finish to fulfil this project has amazed me.

“This trip will hold many special memories for us all but more importantly it has given children of Nepal a much brighter future through education and set all our lives on a different path than the one we came here on.”