Member Article

Curry club boost for Excelsior Everest explorers

Intrepid young explorers bound for Mount Everest have received a major boost from a leading business organisation in their push to fund the trip of a lifetime.

Asian Business Connexions (ABC) has pledged more than £1,200 to help finance the journey to the roof of the world for eight teenage pupils from Newcastle’s Excelsior Academy.

Its members dug deep at its latest ABCurry Club event – held at Excelsior Academy – sponsoring individual items of clothing and kit the youngsters will be wearing and carrying to Everest base camp at more than 17,500 ft high this October.

The generosity of ABC is a major boost for the pupils who are hard at work raising £26,000 to fund their 18-day trip under the supervision of three teachers and expert guides from KE Adventure Travel based in Keswick, Cumbria.

The band of intrepid Excelsior explorers bound for Everest base camp are Jamie McMurray, Dean Martin, Daniel McDonald, Kyle Roberts, Jack Farrell, Charlotte Baird, Sara Beattie and Katie Shaw.

The pupils will all be aged 16 when they depart for the Himalayas on October 10. Their 18-day trek will take them from Lukla Airport, Nepal, to Everest base camp at 5,364m (17,598ft) high – an 80-mile round trip.

Ammar Mirza, ABC founder, said: “This is not just a school trip but eight inner city children being given a life changing opportunity to conquer one of the world’s greatest challenges.”

Excelsior Academy and ABC enjoy a close working relationship. The curry club brings together a wide variety of businesspeople from across the region, promoting opportunities and forming business relationships and networks.

Peter Snowdon, Excelsior Academy Business Manager, said: “ABC’s support for our expedition is such a boost and all the expedition team greatly appreciate the time and genuine interest its businesspeople have taken in our trip.

“It really is the trip of a lifetime for all involved and the pupils are all hard at work, training and fundraising to ensure their dream becomes a reality later this year.”

The explorers are blogging about the preparation for their epic trek on the ‘Roof of the World’, hosted on Excelsior’s website www.excelsiornewcastle.org.uk and tweeting on @basecamp2014.

Any business interested in sponsoring the expedition should contact Mr Snowdon on 0191 228 8400 or e-mail peter.snowdon@excelsiornewcastle.org.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gordon Arnott .