A DAD cycled the height of Everest from the comfort of his house to raise cash for an organisation that gave dozens of bikes to key workers during lockdown.

James Hook, from Stratton St Margaret, took on a virtual Everesting challenge using a training tool called Zwift.

He had to train at night after his daughter went to bed, but it took just over 13 hours for him to climb 8,848 meters and raise more than £1,000 for Recycles at Booth House.

Friends and families were able to follow his efforts through a Facebook live session.

The 34-year-old said: “It’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done physically. I found it difficult because it’s indoors, you’re static and it’s dark.

“I wanted to do it as it is a real challenge. I wanted to do something that would be a personal accomplishment and also raise some money for a good cause.

“Recycles in Swindon is very relevant to the challenge and has really stepped up during the crisis to provide support to our key workers by means of refurbished bikes.”

James bought an indoor trainer at the start of lockdown and wanted to complete the challenge before turning 34 on June 22.

He started riding at 00:15am on Friday, taking only short breaks with no sleep.

“As a key worker myself I have been full time throughout the pandemic, and with a young family time for training is extremely limited,” said IT consultant James.

“ I’ve been clocking up hours in the saddle whenever possible, and my training has meant I’ve cumulatively climbed the height of Everest in June already during the evenings, after my daughter is asleep.”

He added: “My wife Stephanie and my three-year-old daughter Fern supported me.

“Stephanie had arranged some motivational videos from friends and family, so I had those to watch throughout the day.”

Booth House social enterprise manager Chloe Kirwan said: “We are blown away with the support James has given us at such a challenging time.

“Climbing Everest was one of the hardest challenges we have seen a fundraiser do. Our team were glued to the screen all day watching! Not only has James done amazingly well at fundraising, he also helped us get our name out to the wider community and spread the word of the work we do here.

“The money James raised has support our Free Bikes For NHS Staff, which seen Recycles give away over 60 bikes in lockdown to front line workers.

“Without his support this just wouldn’t have been possible. We can’t thank James enough for choosing to support us.

“It really has made a big difference to our social enterprise, our residents, and to keyworkers across Swindon.”

Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/hook-velo