Laura Bagshaw TUCKING into the turkey, piling plates high with roast potatoes, sprouts and stuffing, then finishing off the feast with a generous helping of Christmas pudding.

Laura Bagshaw

TUCKING into the turkey, piling plates high with roast potatoes, sprouts and stuffing, then finishing off the feast with a generous helping of Christmas pudding.

It is fair to say over indulging would fit into most of our activities on Christmas Day however, for two workers from the James Paget University Hospital their seasonal celebration took on quite a different trend.

In six days, Mike Scott and Andy Brown will set off to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

And it will be a sobering new year for Mike, 34, and Andy, 44, who fly out to Africa on January 2.

After months of training and preparation for the mammoth charity challenge in aid of Palliative Care East, Mike and Andy, although slightly nervous, are looking forward to the trip.

Mike, of El Alamein Way, Bradwell, said: “It is a mixture of fear and excitement. It's going to be a quiet Christmas all round. It's just a matter of us not doing anything that could damage ourselves.”

IT manager Mike is no stranger to making the news; in 2006 the Mercury featured the incredible story of how he lost 11st in just five months on the Cambridge diet. Now a fully trained diet counsellor, Mike has managed to keep a trim figure and said he would never have contemplated a challenge like this when he was big.

Most of Mike's training has involved long walks around Bradwell, cycling and walking on a treadmill at a high incline.

Mike added: “My wife Jo has brought me a massive battery for my iPod so the idea is to put R&B on it and just keep walking. There are three routes up the mountain and we have chosen the hardest, but we will give it our best shot.”

More than £1,000 has been raised in sponsorship for the climb attempt which will be donated to the JPH's £1.5m appeal to build a palliative care centre in the grounds of the hospital.

To sponsor Mike and Andy visit www.threemenandamountain.co.uk.