10 August 2012 Last updated at 09:11 ET

Sonny Yallop's Norfolk treetop charity challenge

Sonny Yallop says his feet will not touch the ground during his sojourn

A man is spending a month living on a wooden platform at the top of a tree in Norfolk to raise £3,000 for cancer research in memory of his aunt.

Sonny Yallop, 41, has moved on to the 35ft (10m) high platform in a vine-covered ash tree at Pentney Abbey, in Pentney.

His feet must not touch the ground for four weeks to complete his challenge.

Mr Yallop's aunt, Yvonne Branham, died of cancer last year. "She was like my second mum to me," he said.

Unemployed carpenter Mr Yallop, a father-of-four from King's Lynn, plans to live as a tree-dweller until 1 September, the day of his 42nd birthday.

Calls of nature

"It was just an idea that I'd like to live in a tree for a month, but I wanted to do it for a cause," he said.

The treetops have offered Mr Yallop spectacular views of the countryside

"I lost my aunt to cancer, it has taken a lot of my family - and there the idea was born."

Mr Yallop is living on a 8ft by 4ft (2.4m by 1.2m) platform, secured to the tree with rope.

"I have a reasonably comfortable bed, and I'm water and windproof - it's just like camping up a tree - though the first two days were very stormy," he said.

Sharing the tree with a family of wood pigeons, Mr Yallop's son, Dean, 23, brings him daily supplies of bread and milk.

Answering calls of nature has been one of the biggest challenges faced by Mr Yallop.

"I have two air-tight buckets with the same chemicals in you'd use when camping. The buckets are very air-tight, so you'll find no flies or lingering smells in this treetop," he said.

"My son is responsible for getting rid of it. Let's face it, buckets were being used long before toilets - just perhaps not up a tree."