For erstwhile finance director Charlie Wardle has left his £100,000-a-year job to launch a charity which helps people overcome their own mountainous challenges.

"Climb Your Mountain is a new charity that offers support to anyone who has reached a low but is now looking to make their way back up.

"The aim is to help anyone who may be depressed, stressed or lacking confidence to take up a physical challenge which will be a fantastic experience and a great achievement."

Charlie left a his job as a finance director to set up the charity after his own experience of debt and depression.

In 2003 he faced more than £100,000 worth of debts when he had no choice but to pull out of an ailing business.

This came as a huge blow to ambitious and determined Charlie.

"I didn't want to go on. I'd failed," said 33-year-old Charlie.

"I had lost my passion for life and my desire to succeed. It was as if my heart and soul had been ripped out of me and my dreams totally shattered. I felt numb, empty and alone. There was no life left in me."

Faced with a mountain of debt, bewildered Charlie could only draw on his financial background to get himself back on track.

"It was a gradual process where in the beginning I couldn't even see the mountain peak. The summit seemed such a long way off and at times the climb was very slow and I even fell backwards at times."

And through his climb, Charlie suffered depression and became reclusive.

But things changed when he started exercising, then using his growing sporting flair to raise money for charity.

"Probably the best thing I did which me kept climbing was to exercise to keep physically fit. This was difficult because it requires motivation and effort but the results were so beneficial.

"In the end I went beyond exercising to keep fit and in January 2005 I ran the Las Vegas marathon. The training helped my depression but the best thing was crossing the line and proving that I could do something amazing. I also raised more than £2,000 for The Alzheimer's Charity.

"Going from strength to strength I ran the Toronto marathon in October 2006 and that marked the three year anniversary of me 'climbing my mountain'. I raised more than £1,000 for the NSPCC charity and both marathons helped me accelerate up the mountain, giving me confidence, self-belief, a sense of acheivement and worth."

Now Charlie is putting the hard lessons he learned into use, by launching Climb Your Mountain, information for which can be viewed at www.climbyourmountain.org