A GROUP of 12 women are taking on a gruelling snow triathlon challenge complete with sledding, crosscountry skiing and snowshoeing to raise money for charity.

Claire Gregory, the co-founder of The Female Fitness Academy, said: "When we set up the Female Fitness Academy in 2014 we committed to raising £20,000 by 2020 for charities supporting women and families.

"As fierce opponents of the fad diet culture we wanted to provide opportunities for women to take part in challenges that showed them they can push themselves out of comfort zone and train for something other than weight loss and more importantly, enjoy it."

In January the team are taking on their biggest challenge yet as they tackle the freezing temperatures of northern Finland to complete the snow triathlon.

The women are raising money for Grace's Place Children's Hospice in Manchester and the challenge has been entirely self-funded to ensure as much money as possible goes to the charity.

Claire added: "We are a team of 12 women from all different backgrounds, different parts of the country with different fitness levels and different motivations for taking on this challenge.

"The one thing we all have in common though is our commitment and motivation to raise money for Grace's Place Hospice and to help them to be able to say yes to more families."

Apart from last year's 'Beast from the East' the group have no experience in snow but are determined to tackle the triathlon head on.

The Female Fitness Academy first opened in 2014 when Claire, from Great Sankey and her friend Robyn Ablott, from Latchford were made redundant while on maternity leave.

The pair wanted to find a job which would allow them to spend 'as much time as possible' with their loved ones and were on a mission to help women recover from childbirth and banish 'fit-shaming'.

The academy, which allows mums to bring their babies along to sessions, has worked with midwives, GPs, physiotherapists and psychologists since opening.

Sessions take place at community centres across the north west, including in Warrington, rather than at a fixed site.

You can donate to each of the women taking part here - www.justgiving.com/teams/SnowTriathlon