Stafford's fridge-carrying fundraiser ready for Kilimanjaro challenge

Michael Copeland has already climbed Snowdon with a fridge, and completed the 3 Peaks Challenge in under 24 hours

A former soldier is due to fly to Tanzania next month, to begin a climb up Kilimanjaro with a fridge.

Michael Copeland from Stafford has already carried his fridge up Snowdon and completed the Three Peaks Challenge with it, to raise money for charity.

He wanted to try something new and aims to raise £20,000 for MIND.

Mr Copeland had to sign a waiver, because his fridge is heavier than the 15kg (33lbs) which climbers are allowed to take up the mountain.

The bodybuilder said: "Sometimes you have got to be a bit mad to do something good."

His fridge-carrying exploits began two years ago, when he decided he wanted to raise awareness for mental health issues.

He said: "The fridge to me, basically, is a visual representation of poor mental health.

"If someone could see how you feel, that burden, the weight of mental health weighing you down."

The domestic appliance is also a conversation-starter on his climbs and he added: "The whole idea of carrying the fridge was to get people talking and opening up about their mental health."

Mr Copeland carries the fridge to represent the overwhelming feeling of mental health struggles

Mr Copeland said he chose Kilimanjaro because it was "the highest I could ever go while carrying a fridge," which he admitted afterwards sounded strange to say out loud.

He chose to support his local branch of MIND and Dan Harrison from the mental health charity said: "It's definitely been a new experience for us at north Staffordshire, we have people doing fun runs and raffles and prize draws."

Mr Harrison also said it had been "quite a learning curve" to help arrange the trip.

Porters are normally required to carry anything over the 15kg baggage limit, but Mr Copeland said the fridge would be at least 20kg by itself, and he would need to carry his kit too.

He is due to fly out on 15 March and hopes to return at the end of March.