CHAMPION fundraiser Tom Bottomley has returned from the Mount Everest region to hand over £5,000 to Kirkwood Hospice.

Tom, 35, formerly from Kirkburton, set off with a team of nine other climbers to break a world record - to have dinner at 23, 000ft, higher than anyone else had ever done.

Unfortunately for Tom, who now lives in Leeds, he suffered crippling altitude sickness and had to quit the attempt. But six of the team carried on and broke the record.

Tom presented a cheque for £5,155 to the Dalton hospice, the charity he picked to raise cash for.

The 10 taking part had agreed to raise the money as a team, because it was realised that high-altitude problems were bound to cause a high dropout rate.

Tom said: "It was bitter-sweet when I heard they had beaten the record, because I wanted to be there. But I was so pleased we had done it.

"By the time I heard the news I had returned to Katmandu and was sipping cocktails around the pool!"

The team carried tables, chairs, food and wine up Lhakpa Ri, alongside Everest in Tibet, for the record-breaking dinner in May.

They even donned formal dinner suits, bow-ties and top hats.

"It took us about 18 months to prepare for the climb and get sponsors and a team together," said Tom.

"It was a wonderful experience, but the most important thing is the money we have raised.

"I feel very passionately about Kirkwood Hospice and the work it does to make things a little better for people who need it."

But Tom is not satisfied with his already epic fundraising.

Today he set off on a mammoth cycle ride from Seydisfjordur in Iceland down through the UK and mainland Europe to Casablanca in Morocco.

The challenge is expected to take two months and will raise cash for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Anyone who would like to donate should log on to www.iceland toafrica.net