Charity Champion or Volunteer of the Year nominee – Michael Copeland (aka The Fridge Man)

Charity Champion or Volunteer of the Year nominee – Michael Copeland (aka The Fridge Man)

Former Army fitness instructor Michael Copeland hasn’t just raised £20,000 by climbing some of the world’s highest mountains, he’s done it with a fridge strapped to his back.

The 39-year-old, who now works as an HGV driver, became the first person in history to scale Mount Kilimanjaro carrying a fridge following a seven-day hike in March.

The former Grenadier Guard, from Stafford, has also climbed the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales in under 24 hours while carrying the 30kg fridge.

He’s raised around £20,000 for charities including Mind and CALM as well as bringing attention to men’s mental health.

“Awareness of mental health is so important to me,” said Michael. “I’ve always struggled with my own mental health and my overthinking, so this form of exercise keeps me on the straight and narrow.

“I realised that men’s mental health is still on the rise and it’s still not spoken about enough. I’d like to make sure that changes”.

Michael started his campaign in January 2022. He’s climbed more than 30 mountains since then including Kilimanjaro, Snowdonia and some of the most dangerous ridges in the Scottish Highlands.

“I do all of these climbs with the fridge on my back to show that even with a weight on your shoulders, both metaphorically and physically in my case, that you can still achieve great things.

“I use the fridge because it’s awkward and it gets people talking which is the aim of my climbs.”

The body builder says he has no end goal – he just wants to raise awareness and as much money for charity as he can.

“I’ve challenged myself since I was 15, so I feel this is now part of my daily structure. I’m very aware of my own mental health and doing this is both positive for me and the people who I impact.”

Michael has been nominated as a Charity Champion or Volunteer of the Year in the Your Heroes Awards.

He said: “It’s amazing to have been nominated for something like this. It just gives me extra momentum to keep going.”