Leicester City club secretary Andrew Neville is set to quite literally go above and beyond the call of duty this summer. Andrew has decided to scale the heights of Mount Kilimanjaro, starting next Thursday (July 15th), to raise money for the Harley Staples Fund.

City players, management and staff got to know 8-year-old Harley and his family last September. Harley had a rare and very aggressive form of leukaemia called Burkitt lymphoma.

The young City fan remained remarkably cheerful despite regular treatment and his family nicknamed him ‘Happy Harley’. A mascot for the Blackpool game, Harley also trained and had lunch with the players at the training ground, and alongside his family he became an inspiration to everybody at Leicester City.

After Harley lost brave fight against the illness in November, the Staples family set up the Harley Staples Fund to raise money for the children and families on Leicester Royal Infirmary’s Ward 27, and any child with a potentially life threatening illness.

The family have purchased a caravan near Cromer on the East Coast, where families in a similar situation to Harley’s can have a break free of charge and spend some quality time away. The family have called it ‘Happy Harley’s Holiday Homes.’

All the money Andrew raises will go towards another caravan and he explained why he chose Kilimanjaro.

“My thought process started about a year ago when I was watching Comic Relief and saw those celebrities climb Kilimanjaro. I’m 50 later this year so I had it in my mind that I wanted to do something to mark that occasion, but I wanted to do it for a reason as well.

“Then we met Harley Staples and his family right at the start of the season and we kind of followed the last few weeks of his life. We did what we could as a club for him. We invited him to the training ground to watch the players train and have lunch with them, asking Sky TV to film his visit as a keepsake, and of course making him mascot for the Blackpool game. All of the staff and the players got to know the family before unfortunately the lad died in November.

“I heard that his family had this fund called ‘Happy Harley’s Holiday Homes’ to raise money to buy holiday homes. That was the final piece of the jigsaw for me. It’s a personal challenge for me to do this climb, but it’s also putting something back as well.”

Andrew paid tribute to Harley’s family and their amazing efforts with his fund.

“They’re a lovely, lovely family, not just Harley’s mum and dad, but the whole family. They’re fully supportive of my challenge. The fund itself maybe gives them something else to occupy their minds, and gives them a bit a motivation during what must be a very, very difficult time.”

The City secretary is looking forward to the climb, but admits to being a little apprehensive too.

“I said to my wife that this is a little bit like someone trying to run for the first time and starting off with a marathon. I am trying to get myself fitter. Having said that, I’m told that it’s not necessarily how fit you are, but more whether you can cope with the altitude. I am genuinely worried about not being able to do it.”

Andrew is aiming to raise plenty of money for Harley’s Fund and is hoping to use his contacts at the club as much as possible.

“The more money I can raise the better. It’s not a football club thing but you can use the powers of football to help to raise money and that’s what I’ll try to do.

“’The family are in the process of registering the fund as a charity and I’ve sent out leaflets to the players and the staff and everybody I know in football. The more we can raise, the more holiday homes we can get, and the more good we can do for those less fortunate than ourselves.”

Anybody wanting to donate can do so at branch, online, by cheque or cash into Nationwide Building Society account number 0888/600567259, sort code 07-44-56. Cheques should be made payable to K. Staples.