HE is housebound and suffers from dizziness because of labyrinthitis - and his knees are ‘not in the best condition’ - but OAP Alan Dawes has vowed to scale the height of Mount Everest by climbing the stairs at his York home 3,629 times.

The 76-year-old Rawcliffe parish councillor says he is aiming to raise£1,000 for NHS Families Respite Day to say a huge thank you to workers for all their hard work in the fight against coronavirus.

He said he was climbing up and down the stairs at his home in St Mark’s Grove, Rawcliffe, 210 times a day for 18 days, with the aim of completing the ascent on Sunday morning.

Alan said he had launched the climb in memory of his late sister Phyllis, who passed away last month after suffering kidney failure.

He said he had begun wondering at her funeral how he could ‘emulate her kindness and determination.’

He said that when on holiday in Aberystwyth, he used to walk alongside her as she went with her walking stick up nearby slopes and thought: “If I could climb Everest for her, I would.”

He decided that being housebound, he would climb his staircase to the height of the mountain.

He calculated that 210 climbs a day would equate to a768m slope with a vertical height of 512m, and he has managed this every day since he began his ascent on April 16.

He said he had a picture of Mount Everest upstairs and a chart to record each day’s climb by date,the number of climbs, the number of steps, and the height in metres and in feet.

To sponsor Alan’s climb, go to https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/clair-oliver-2?utm_term=G2QAdnY2Y.