Preston North End sports science assistant Luke Hemmings is set to scale the height of Everest on three separate occasions at Deepdale in aid of Dementia UK.
Luke, 28, will be climbing up and down the stairs of the Alan Kelly Town End during his challenge to replicate the height of Earth’s highest mountain above sea level.
Each combined ascent and descent will take approximately 24 hours – 295 times up and down the steps – and he will be doing that three times over the course of five days at the home of the Lilywhites.
Luke’s Everest Challenge is all being done in aid of Dementia UK, a specialist dementia nurse charity.
Luke said: “I’m an avid fundraiser and I like to push myself and the boundaries to see how far I can go.
“At the same time, I like to raise awareness as well, not just money.
“I saw Dementia UK and I like the charity because it raises money for the Admiral Nurses who care for the people who have sadly got dementia, and the people and the families surrounding those people who provide support.
“I really like the ethos of the charity and chose them to raise money for and to support them as much as I can really.
“Again the underlying message, as always, is to raise awareness as well as money and to support where I can.”
Luke – who has worked at Preston North End since the 2013/14 season – has so far managed to raise just over £1,000, and has received the backing of many of the club’s first team players in the past week or so.
With the plan being to undergo the challenge at the end of May, Luke is well into his preparations, and the fundraising efforts are now also being expanded.
Luke said: “I’ve only just started pushing it because you tend to find when the event’s a year or so away people kind of think ‘we’ll get on it a bit later’, so the support’s really stepped up and the lads have been excellent helping to share it, and off the back of that the donations have shot up.
“We’ve got a few fundraising events in the pipeline if anyone wants to get involved with that and help organise a fundraising event, or even putting me in contact with any other local businesses that want to jump on board by becoming an event sponsor, then again they are welcome.”
If you would like to support Luke’s Everest Challenge, then you can donate by clicking here, while you can also monitor his progress on Instagram and Twitter.