Senior Information Analyst Graham Smith is heading to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for charity.

He has picked the charity Bliss as he has colleagues and friends whose babies have needed special care at the very start of their lives.

Getting altitude sickness is his biggest fear and has been told plenty of walking is the best way of protecting himself from it before he sets off  on his ascent in February.

"You never know who it will strike," he said. " Noone seems to know who or why is affected. You hear of teenagers getting it then pensioners not at all."

He says there are scaled drawings showing Everest way up high, then Kilimanjaro and in comparison, Ben Nevis looks flat - such is the scale of his effort.

Graham, says: "Climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is undoubtedly a challenge for anyone and something I have always wanted to tackle.  Bag packed and trip planned for February, 2018, I felt I could use this experience to help a charity - Bliss (providing help and support to ill and premature babies and parents) hoping to raise £4,500 between now and the beginning of December 2017.

"If you feel this is a charity you would like to support, you can make a donation either directly or if you would like it to count towards my fund raising effort, you can use my JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/supportinglittleones.  If you would like further details of the work of Bliss, their telephone number is 020 7378 1122 or their website www.bliss.org.uk.  Thank you.