GUITARIST Jamie West-Oram is preparing to play the strangest rock concert of his life – up a mountain. Jamie, who lives in Petersfield, is guitarist with The Fixx, one of three British bands who made up the line-up of the hugely successful 'Rockin the Colonies' tour in the United States last month. But in October, Jamie is swapping the hi-tech Western music world for a fund-raising acoustic concert at the base camp of Mount Everest in aid of cancer sufferers and their families. Jamie said: "During the tour the musicians in the three bands – The Alarm, The Psychedelic Furs and The Fixx – all became friends and my band mates and I quickly learned that Mike Peters, the singer from The Alarm, had recently beaten leukaemia and has been pro-active in cancer research and treatment." Mike has already organised several events with a difference, including a concert on top of Mount Snowdon and a gig at the top of New York's Empire State Building, and he began the Love Hope Strength Foundation to raise money to fund cancer treatment and give guidance to cancer patients. And his latest venture has been to persuade musicians to take part in a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest for a concert, followed by a concert in Kathmandu. "Mike has persuaded Fixx singer Cy Curnin, who lives in France, and myself to be among the musicians in this project," said Jamie. Part of the money raised at all of Mike's events go for the benefit of cancer charities in that particular area, and funds raised at the Everest Rocks event will provide much-needed support to the Nepal Cancer Society and their worthwhile programmes." So for 23 days, from October 9-31, cancer survivors and co-founders of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, Mike Peters and entertainment insurance executive James Chippendale, are taking the fight against cancer to new heights. Among those joining the Everest Rocks adventure of a lifetime with Jamie will be Billy Duffy (The Cult), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), Jimmy Barnes, Dave Wakeling (The Beat), Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze) and Nick Harper, along with mountaineers, cancer survivors and people whose lives have been affected by cancer. "I lost both my parents to cancer," Jamie said. "My mother died when I was 10 and my father died in l991. The cancer treatment he received then was probably what it is like now in Nepal where funding is desperately needed." He said there would be about 40 people on the trek, most of whom will have paid many thousands of pounds to join in or been sponsored by others for a large sum of money. "I and the other musicians have free admission, so I would like to start by raising at least the £7,500 I would have otherwise had to come up with. I believe that amount can be exceeded by a long long way if enough people realise how basic cancer treatment is in Nepal – where the average yearly income is £150 – compared to that available in countries like the United Kingdom." To contribute online, visit http://www.lovehopestrengthfoundation.co.uk">www.lovehopestrengthfoundation.co.uk. Businesses interested in sponsoring the event should contact Shannon Foley, the director of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, at [email protected]">[email protected].