Dear all -
If you're reading this, then my cunning advertising strategy has worked. I've left a number of cryptic (and not so cryptic) messages about my upcoming (and indeed upgoing) trek to Everest Base Camp. You may have seen my Facebook status, one of the posters I've left at work and at Gregor's nursery or one of the emails I've sent out.
Lots of you have asked about it (and thanks for your interest), and some of you have already sponsored me (I'm off to a great start - thanks! I still have a way to go, though...), so it seems the right time to let you know a bit more about it.
On 28th February next year (that's 2008), I'm going to fly out to Kathmandu with a bunch of other Accenture types, and begin a 20-day trek that will take us from Chumoa (at 2743m) to Everest Base Camp (5300m) and Kala Pattar (5545m - where you get the classic view of Everest) and back again.
For me, it's a lifetime ambition. I've always wanted to see Everest up close (in my sillier moments, I have been heard to say that I'd like to try to climb right to the top... but Leah, entirely correctly, would never let me do it), and when the email announcing the trek came round it took me all of 30 seconds to decide to go for it. Which is a good thing, because places filled up within minutes.
The trek is part of Accenture's ongoing relationship with Voluntary Service Overseas, which has built since 1999 to the point where we have sent over 118 volunteers to support VSO's projects in some of the poorest countries in the world. VSO today is much more than the "student gap year" organisation you might have encountered years ago. Today, over 2000 skilled volunteers, whose average age is 38, work in 30 countries to address gaps in education, governance, healthcare, securing livelihoods and the response to the threat of HIV/AIDS.
They give their time for free, but there is still a cost to support them on their assignments. It costs VSO around £5.25 per day for each volunteer.
Of course, not everyone can volunteer for VSO. Some of us have mortgages in South West London and need to spend most of our time working to pay them off. But we can still help by fundraising. Accenture has raised money for VSO in several ways over the years, but last year saw the advent of a new approach that has really captured people's imaginations. 25 of our people trekked to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, raising over £100,000 between them. That's enough to support over 50 volunteers for a whole year.
A second Kili trek is on its way at the moment. Fellow Monty Python fans may be relieved to hear that it is not searching for last year's expedition, which did not attempt to build a bridge between the two peaks of Mt Kilimanjaro (and which did return safely).
And then there's the Everest trip. I couldn't resist, and when I read about what VSO is doing in Nepal, I was even more determined to go. Nepal has a population of 24m, one third of whom live below the poverty line. Think about that for a moment. If they lived in Britain, one in every eight people you met would be too poor to feed themselves properly. Nearly one in two children suffers from malnutrition. If that sounds shocking, it should be.
The key to changing one statistic is another one: literacy. Adult literacy in Nepal is only 56%. Nepal's people have little hope of pulling themselves out of poverty without decent education, and this has been a key focus of VSO's work. And it is working - Nepal has 28,000 schools (from having none fifty years ago) and literacy at the primary school level is now over 70%. But that in itself raises new challenges: class sizes of 90 (and you thought your local state school had problems) and a chronic shortage of textbooks and other teaching aids.
This trek should be a life-changing event for me. With your help it should be a life-changing - perhaps a life-saving - event for the people of Nepal as well.
Often with these events some of the fundraising goes towards the cost of the trek. But that's not fair - I would have paid to do this sooner or later, and I can afford it (even after my mortgage in South West London). So I have told VSO that I will personally pay the total cost of the trek.
It means that any sponsorship you give me (plus 28% in gift aid from the Government, if you're a UK taxpayer) will go straight to VSO and their work in Nepal. And there's a benefit for you too, on top of the warm feeling of having done the right thing and the vague hope that I might fall off a mountain. If you're a higher rate taxpayer, you can claim the rest of the tax relief on your donation through your tax return, and offset it against your tax bill. I've tried it, and it works.
Please do give generously. It's a great cause. I've set a target of £3,600, which (with gift aid) would fund two volunteers for a year. My deadline for reaching it is the end of November 2007.
You can donate via www.justgiving.com/jasonwhyte, or use VSO's donation form at http://www.vso.org.uk/Images/vso_donate_form_tcm8-705.pdf - but please make sure to put the following on the back of your cheque: “Jason Whyte / 262053 / Accenture Everest Base Camp Challenge 2008” so that they know it's towards
Many thanks - and keep posted (pun intended) for updates on my training and fundraising. I'm trying to organise a charity go-karting event for later in the year (if you're interested - let me know) and perhaps even a charity ball.
All the best,
Jason
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)