Mike Thompson and his son Dean are to jet off to Tanzania in January to attempt the massive 17,500ft climb to raise money for Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

The duo have been inspired to back the charity by the plight of their work colleague at Asda Clayton Green, Gail Lucas who is currently battling the disease.

Speaking of their grand plans, Mike, 57, said: "It has always been my dream to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I love the outdoors and regularly go walking in the mountains so it is something I've always wanted to do.

"There was a programme on television about celebrities who did the climb for Comic Relief and after watching it my son asked if I still wanted to do it and we just went from there."

Mike is no stranger to extreme experiences as he trekked to the Artic Circle in 2007. He is also just returned from climbing mountains in Scotland.

"We're all psyched up, but to put it into perspective, the mountain is probably as big as Ben Nevis, Scarfell, Snowden, the Old Man of Coniston and Helvellyn all put together.

"The highest we have climbed is about 5,000ft so we don't know how we'll react as when we get to 6,000ft the air gets thinner and there is only half as much oxygen and we'll still have 11,000ft to go."

Even the amount of sponsorship that the pair are trying to collect is a tall ask with a goal of £17,500 - a £1,000 for every foot they hope to climb.

Mike said: "Rosemere helps local people with cancer and we all know someone who has been affected by the disease."