A GROUP of businessmen tested their physical and mental limits in the Borneo jungle to raise £130,000 to help improve the lives of disabled youngsters.

A team from Manchester led by former Manchester United legend Lee Martin won the Professional Footballers' Association's Charity Challenge Cup in aid of Cheshire-based Children Today charity.

The group which included Steve Rodgers, Garry Crane, Richard Smith, Simon Lewis, Peter Quinn and Mark Ormerod raised £35,000 and travelled to Borneo in June for 10 days.

Their challenges in temperatures up to 40 C included a 38km mountain bike race in the Crocker Mountains, crossing the Kiulu River, abseiling down a cliff face, build and race a raft and climb Mount Kinabalu, which at 13,500 ft is the highest peak in south east Asia.

Teams

The Manchester team picked up the most points across the 10 day event beating 32 other people in six different teams from across the country.

Some of the team were presented with the Challenge Cup at the Royal Oak Hotel, in Didsbury, on Saturday and met some of the children who have been given a helping hand by Children Today.

These included six-year-old Chloe-Jay Roswell, who is profoundly disabled but is learning new skills and having fun with her special tricycle.

Alan Dodd from Children Today said: "We can't thank the businessmen who took part in this challenge enough - they all took time out from their work and raised a huge amount of money.

"Parts of the trip will have been very challenging and for a short time they will have experienced some of the discomfort and difficulty which the children we help probably experience much of the time."

The money raised by the Manchester team will be used to help children in this region over the coming year.