FEARSOME fundraiser Richard Gibbens is set to climb a leg punishing 932 steps in aid of homeless charity Shelter.

Richard is tackling Vertical Rush 2017, which will see him climb to the top of London’s original skyscraper, Tower 42.

The Essex Police employee will tackle the challenge next month.

But how do you prepare for climbing stairs?

Richard said: “I saw the challenge with a few colleagues, and thought it would be a good one to do.

“It is definitely going to be a lot of leg work and a real lung buster. Training wise I am going into the dark really.

“Aside from going to a multi-storey car park and going up and down for a morning, which may look slightly strange, it is quite hard to know how to train.

“I am doing a lot of cardio and core fitness in the gym as well as going on runs and cycling.”

Richard, 33, of Colchester Road, Halstead, enjoys setting himself a new challenge every year and in the past has taken part in a marathon, a triathlon, a 10 mile paratrooper run carrying 35lb weight, as well as last year’s monster Scilly Swim Challenge.

A gluten for punishment, just a few days later Richard will take on the Colchester Half Marathon.

He added: “Any charity work is good work as far as I am concerned.

“I have done a lot for Essex Air Ambulance in the past and that is who I am doing the Colchester Half Marathon in aid of.

“Every winter you see an increasing number of people on the streets in the cold, and the stats are quit shocking.”

Anyone wanting to donated to Richard’s fundraising total can do so via justgiving.

com/fundraising/RichardGibbens5.