WATCH: Heroic Orangemen return to Northern Ireland after conquering Kilimanjaro and raising nearly £270,000

The team of 24 hikers were applauded as they got off their bus at Banbridge Orange Hall, having conquered Mount Kilimanjaro and raised £268,000 for four children’s cancer charities in memory of Banbridge schoolboy Adam Watson who lost his battle with leukaemia in August.

Team leader Stuart Magill said: "24 hallions started and 24 legends finished and I couldn't have picked a better bunch of fellas to experience this amazing challenge with.

“You just need to take a look at us to see that we are not athletes and far from it but what we lacked in athleticism we made up for with positive mental attitude.

"We had a briefing the night before we started our walk and our chief guide took one look at us and thought the best we would get was 17 or 18 to the top which is a lot lower than their average success rate but after a day or two he realised that there was something special about this group.

“I've no doubt that there's many sitting back home and seeing this bunch of ordinary fellas at the top of Kilimanjaro and thinking it couldn't be that bad if they got to the top but how wrong you would be. Unless you have experienced it you will never know how your body and mind will deal with the altitude."

The final part of the ascent was a hike along steep paths and slippery rocks, buffeted by wind and sleet.

Stuart said: “From base camp to Uhuru peak was just five kilometres but it took us eight and a half hours. To put that into perspective one lap of Craigavon Lakes is five kilometres and takes just 50 minutes.”

He said their spirits were kept high by the traditional Tanzanian songs of their guides – the G Adventures Crew.

Stuart recalled: “The boys were that exhausted going up they were starting to fall asleep during the short breaks and one even fell asleep standing up.

"We made it to Stella Point which is on the rim of the crater at 7am, just before that we got to witness the most amazing sunrise, from that height you can actually see the curvature of the earth.

"Altitude sickness had really kicked in for the majority of the group, we had guys vomiting, hallucinating, falling over, lack of appetite, headaches and dizziness. But the exact summit was still 700 metres away.

"The walk took you across the snow top peak and had great views of the glaciers on Kilimanjaro. It took 45 minutes to walk the 700 metres but we all finally arrived at 7.48am.

"All 24 of us made it to the top which was the icing on the cake."

Stuart added: “Hiking for Little Heroes was more than just climbing a mountain, it was about raising money and awareness for children's cancer charities. We did this for one special little boy Adam Watson and we are proud to have been able to do so in his memory.

"Sara (Adam’s mum) had said that when times get tough look to the brightest star in the sky and as we finally made it onto the mountain the clouds parted to a full sky of stars.”