I am married to Avril and have two sons, Ross (age 14) and Fraser (age 13). We live on the east side of Edinburgh, and I work for National Health Service Scotland as an IT project manager.

I am a member of Carrubbers Christian Centre based on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, where I lead a welcoming ministry and take part in other church activities.

I used to enjoy climbing the occasional mountain but it was quite a few years ago and they were about a sixth of the height of this one, so a good deal of training will be on the cards.

Date of Trip: June 2014

Steve Packwood proposed this challenge as a way to celebrate his 50th birthday. I will also be 50 in 2014 (in October) and am excited by the opportunity to mark the occasion by climbing Kilamanjaro.

Because of a previous job I have visited India several times and one thing that always struck me was the huge difference between rich and poor, and the way the poverty is so obvious everywhere you go in the cities. I'm therefore inspired to be able to raise money to help build a Dalit School in India to give at least some of the poorest people a chance of a better future.