A FATHER and daughter are hoping to reach new heights by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for the John McNeill Opportunity Centre.

Phil Monk, 61, from Amesbury, and his daughter Sarah, 28, will attempt to hike to the summit of the mountain in Tanzania – 19,000 feet up.

On the way they will tackle humid rainforests, desert plains, glaciers and gruelling climbs.

Temperatures will range between searing heat and well below freezing and the courageous climbers will face a constant battle against altitude sickness.

Only about seven in ten people who attempt Kilimanjaro by this route reach the top but Mr Monk says he is determined to make it.

“It is very hard to train for as there is nowhere with conditions anywhere like it in this country,” he said.

“But I’ve been walking and cycling to keep fit and we’re going to give it a good go.”

Mr Monk’s wife Carole works as a speech and language therapist at the John McNeill Centre, the Salisbury nursery for learning disabled children that had its funding cut by £10,000 by Wiltshire Council this year.

“I think it’s a disgrace, the people there work so hard but they need more funding – not less,” he said.

“The community has done a great job raising money to cover the shortfall but Wiltshire Council should be ashamed.

“Even more families are going to need the John McNeill centre in the future, it is an incredibly positive place and we are very lucky to have it.”

Mr Monk, who worked as a geography teacher at Stonehenge School in Amesbury for 38 years, was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch in 2012 and says he is tackling the mountain to give something back.

His daughter is also a teacher in Amesbury but is currently on a gap year working at an orphanage in Uganda.

The intrepid duo start their six-day challenge on July 9 and hope to raise at least £400 along the way.

To sponsor them visit justgiving.com/phil-monkkilimanjaro.