Charity trek heads for Himalayas

HEADING for the Himalayas . . . David Harthan gets in some practice

A 61-year-old Uppermill man is set to tackle the walk of his life — hiking through the foothills of the world’s highest mountain.

Consultant accountant David Harthan will trek up to an altitude of 18,500ft on the slopes of Mount Everest, which soars to 28,000ft in the Himalayas.

The lung-bursting effort is to raise money for a charity which supports disadvantaged children in Nepal.

David will leave Britain on November 8 to join a party of 16 trekking for 16 days to an Everest base camp.

He said: “The Everest foothills over which we will trek for up to six hours a day make the Saddleworth hills look like pimples.

“I have also done a coast-to-coast walk — but never anything like this. I try to keep myself quite fit and have played cricket and football in Saddleworth.”

David was inspired to do the trek for the Child Welfare Scheme charity by his daughter Jayne, a former Hulme Grammar School head girl and ex-primary teacher who now works in Nepal as an early child development adviser.

David said: “There will be problems. At this altitude the air has only 50 per cent of the oxygen it has at sea level.

“The temperatures fall below freezing — the lowest temperatures are around minus 10C at this time of year.”

But David believes the privations are necessary to raise money for a country where 42 out of every 100 children live below the poverty line and 48 out of every 100 are malnourished.

He already has a number of major sponsors — John Ainley and partners, from Oldham-based North Ainley Halliwell Solicitors; Barry Dickson and Jon Wilcock, of Jackson, Brierley, Harthan, of Uppermill; Phil Newton, of Prolific Financial Services, from Warrington; Phil Wiggett, of Wiggett Construction; and Alan Appleton of Alan Appleton Ltd, of Oldham.

But he would like more individuals to pledge sponsorship by contacting www.justgiving.com/davidharthan or ringing him on 01457-875383.