THE approach of his 50th birthday led Phil Moorhouse up one of the world's highest mountains in aid of a good cause.

Mr Moorhouse, finance director for Darlington holding company Northgate, raised £11,000 after a sponsored climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

He said of his decision to trek up Africa's highest peak: "This was something I'd always wanted to do."

Mr Moorhouse, of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, chose to give the money he raised to the Alzheimer's Society after his wife Val's mother died following a lengthy dementia-related illness.

"It seemed like the right time and an ideal way to raise money for such a good cause," he said.