A Winsford funeral director and former radio DJ will trek to the Mount Everest basecamp next month to raise money for local charities.

Dave Fowles will be flying from London Heathrow to Kathmandu via Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, October 25.

The 50-year-old will then travel on to Tenzing-Hillary Airport – said to be the world’s most dangerous – before beginning the ascent from the nearby Nepalese town of Lukla.

Dave was once a DJ for Midlands commercial radio station Touch FM, but in 2010 he became the sixth generation to join the family business, Fowles Funeral Services, which has been operating in Winsford for more than 200 years.

Dave said: “I’ve always loved my walking – the Peaks, the Lakes, the Welsh mountains.

“Then when I was working in radio, I was given the opportunity to go on a Ben Fogle programme called Extreme Dreams, where we were competing for a chance to go to the Mountains of the Moon in Uganda.

“I got down to the final two, but they ended up taking the girl instead.

“So, I thought – ‘Fine, I’ll just take myself’.

“That’s where it all started, and now I’ve got the bug.”  

Northwich Guardian: Training in the Lake District: Dave FowlesTraining in the Lake District: Dave Fowles (Image: Dave Fowles)

This will be Dave’s fourth trek for charity, having already climbed Mount Kenya, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Elbrus in southern Russia, and trekked to Machu Pichu in Peru.

So far Dave’s treks have raised more than £40,000, and as he funds the expeditions from his own pocket, every penny goes to his nominated charities.

“Because I love doing it, I don’t think it’s right that any of the money donated goes to pay for my trip.

“It’s my trip, so I cover the cost of it, and if I can help raise money at the same time as doing that - brilliant!”

Four charities will benefit from Dave’s Everest trek: children’s cancer hospice the Joshua Tree; St Luke’s Hospice; the British Heart Foundation and the North West Air Ambulance Charity.

“There are four of us going out, including my old school friend of nearly 40 years Nick Dean (who's from Winsford too), and we each chose our own charity," he added.

“I like the fact that local people will know where their donations are going.”

If you would like to contribute, you can do so through Dave’s GoFundMe page: www.gofundme.com/f/thesummitseekersEBC2022