A father-of-four who survived cancer five years ago has raised �4,000 completing an epic climb up Everest.Mike Crawley, from Reepham, made it to Everest base camp, 18,00ft above sea level, raising �4,000 for charity East Anglia's Children's Hospices, which helps seriously ill children.

A father-of-four who survived cancer five years ago has raised �4,000 completing an epic climb up Everest.

Mike Crawley, from Reepham, made it to Everest base camp, 18,00ft above sea level, raising �4,000 for charity East Anglia's Children's Hospices, which helps seriously ill children.

It is his second adventure raising cash for the charity, having climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2006, raising �7,000.

Mr Crawley, who is in his 50s, said: 'I'm a cancer survivor thanks to the skill and care of some very special people. Now, five years on and relatively fit and well, I enjoy every day and want to do something very special to celebrate my gift of time.

'We trekked for eight days into a high wilderness of rock and glaciers. The biggest challenge was acclimatising to the altitude - it was like walking uphill for eight days in a deep freezer with no oxygen.

'It was an amazing experience though and I'm thrilled to have raised nearly �4,000 for EACH- a huge thank-you to everyone who has sponsored me.'

EACH provides care and support for life-threatened children and their families in their own homes, as well as at the charity's hospices based at Quidenham in Norfolk, Ipswich in Suffolk and Milton in Cambridgeshire.

Jessica Hiscocks, community fundraising co-ordinator for EACH said: 'This is an incredible achievement and we are really grateful to Mike for his ongoing support. At EACH we rely on public donations for around 75pc of our income, so the money Mike has raised will make a real difference to local life-threatened children and their families.'

This year, it is anticipated it will cost around �5.5m to run all three hospice services.

Donations can still be made until the end of January at www.justgiving.com/everestforeach

For more information about EACH and how you can help, visit www.each.org.uk