Young Mountaineer Tackles Everest to Protect the Planet

READING, England, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A mountaineer is aiming to become one of the youngest British climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, to help raise awareness of global environmental and sustainability issues and to commemorate The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Matthew Dieumegard-Thornton, 21, is tackling the world's highest mountain to raise money for international charity Global Angels to provide disadvantaged children and their communities with access to safe drinking water (www.justgiving.com/MatthewDThornton).

He is also putting the focus on the continuing fight against "environmental irresponsibility", as an Ambassador of Climate Unchange, a global webshop that enables individuals and businesses – small and large – to offset their carbon footprints.

Matthew is being sponsored for his expedition by global digital services provider Yell, the parent company of Yellowbook in the US. His attempt on the 8,848 metre summit is scheduled to take 70 days and the ascent itself, expected to start in mid-April, will follow the south eastern route taken by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953 when he became the first man to reach the top of Mount Everest – three days before Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

Ahead of his expedition, Matthew has received messages of support from The Queen, who has wished him "warm good wishes" in achieving his goal and his safe return, and explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who has praised Matthew's maturity and inner strength.

Matthew, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, UK, is a graduate in Sport and Exercise Science, specialising in environmental physiology, and has previously trained as a squash professional. In mountain training, he has climbed Peak Lenin(7,134m) in the Pamirs range of Kyrgyzstan, and Mera Peak(6,476m) and Baruntse(7,219m) in Nepal.

Matthew said: "This is by far my biggest climbing adventure to date and will be an immense physical and mental challenge. Our planet faces some significant issues, such as lack of water in regions of the world, and the need for a much wider shared responsibility for consumption and recycling.

"A more responsible approach will help us protect and conserve the environment, including precious and delicate locations such as mountains, and ensure a sustainable planet." 

Mike Pocock, Yell Group Chief Executive Officer, said: "Matthew is a highly motivated, entrepreneurial young man who is embarking on a lifetime challenge to highlight issues that are of fundamental importance to all of us.

"His spirit is one that at Yell we see as not only inspirational, but one that has immediate resonance with our values and the responsibilities we have to the wider communities in which we operate. We are delighted to be supporting Matthew in his fantastic endeavour and his goal of helping ensure a better world."  

Matthew is aiming to raise at least 8,848 pounds Sterling – the equivalent to the height of Everest - for the Global Angels' Water for Life project whereby every 5 pounds raised provides one person with safe drinking water for 10 years.

Yell's support for Matthew reflects its long established track record for corporate social responsibility, with the aim of providing its shareholders and other stakeholders with confidence that it is a well-managed, responsible and sustainable company.

You can support Matthew's challenge and donate to Global Angels via Just Giving:
www.justgiving.com/MatthewDThornton or text the code MDTE90, your amount (e.g. 10 pounds) to 70070.

You can follow Matthew's progress online:

Website: www.matthewclimbseverest.com (coming soon)
Twitter: @MattDThornton and @Yell  Hashtag: #MountainMatt
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MattDThornton and www.facebook.com/Yell

About Yell

Yell Group is a leading provider of digital services within the emerging local eMarketplace for consumers and SMEs across its operations in the UK, US, Spain and some countries in Latin America.

Building on its strong presence in the local market through its current digital and print portfolio, Yell is developing a broad range of digital services tailored to the converging needs of SMEs and consumers.

These address both the SMEs' need to grow, transact and be efficient in the digital world, and the consumers' need to connect locally to the goods and services they want, in a way which saves them time and money, and moves their lives forward.

In the year ended 31 March 2011, Yell Group had 1.3 million SME customers.

Yell is in the media sector and is classified as a low impact company with regards to climate change.

About Global Angels
We are an international charity, championing the causes of disadvantaged children and their communities around the world.

We have a dream - a dream of a vast network of "Angels" - people like you and me, from all ages and cultures, uniting together through our donations, skills and resources, transforming the world we live in and creating pathways to a sustainable planet.

Drawing on an international team of professionals and volunteers, we work in partnerships resourcing best-practice-projects which empower children, young people and communities – these are our '100% Projects'.

Known as 'The 100% Charity', through our '100% Promise' we give every penny we receive from public donations directly to the '100% Projects' we partner with on the ground; providing water, food, education, homes, medical care and resources to transform lives.

We host the 'Angels in Concert' series, events and adventures, raising funds to empower children, young people and their communities whether they are living in extreme poverty or disadvantage, devastated environmental conditions, with disability or life threatening illness, are street kids, orphans, child slaves, trafficked kids, or child soldiers.

About Climate Unchange

Climate Unchange is Wardour And Oxford's social mission fighting environmental irresponsibility. www.climateunchange.com is a carbon offsetting webshop featuring carbon credited projects independently verified and certified by organizations accredited by the United Nations.

About Wardour And Oxford

Wardour And Oxford is a global business development agency working with entrepreneurs, emerging and Fortune 1000 companies to grow their businesses locally and internationally. The company provides management consultancy, global lead generation, sales, marketing, communications, public relations, events and appointment setting services, connecting clients to CEOs, business leaders, venture capitalists, angel investors, political, creative, entertainment and royal connections. Explore http://www.wardourandoxford.com or email [email protected].

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