Volunteers are ‘stepping up’ the pace on Sunday in a charity climb at the iconic ‘Gherkin’ tower in the City of London for the New Zealand Earthquake Appeal.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key did the climb last month when he was in London for the Royal Wedding. He got to the top of the 38-storey office block with his host, fellow New Zealander Kent Gardner, chief executive of Evans Randall property company which owns the building.

So the volunteers are determined that if he can do it—so can they.

Climbing all 1,037 steps is aimed at raising �250,000 for the Christchurch Appeal which was set up following February’s earthquake which cost 180 lives and destroyed 10,000 homes.

Organisers arranging Sunday’s sponsored climb from 10am to 2pm are appealing for more volunteers to register online: www.stepup4christchurch.com.