Maureen Lipman and Prunella Scales back fundraising climb for Burma Campaign UK.
Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, will be climbing Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe, to raise money for the Burma Campaign UK. The fundraising target is £15,744, one pound for every foot of the mountain. The climb takes place at the end of July.
People are being asked to support the climb by making donations online at: burmacampaign.org.uk/montblanc.html. The interactive donation page features a graphic showing Yvette moving up the mountain every time a donation is made.
“It’s going to be a real challenge, but if we can hit our fundraising target it will be worth it” says Yvette Mahon, who is covering all her own costs on the climb. “We joke that trying to persuade the British government to take action on Burma is like climbing a mountain. I think climbing Mont Blanc will be a lot easier.”
The climb is being supported by actresses Prunella Scales and Maureen Lipman. Maureen Lipman said. “Feeling as profoundly about this cause as I do I had almost agreed to accompany Yvette on the climb, until I remembered that looking at Highgate West hill makes me queasy, and until I realised that crampons weren’t what you took out of clever little machines on lavatory walls. I’ve agreed to wait for her at the bottom with a Cappuccino and a change of tights instead.”
The trip is not without danger, dozens of people are killed or injured climbing Mont Blanc every year. Climbing for two to three days, she’ll face hidden crevasses, avalanches, stone falls and sudden weather changes. At night she’ll sleep in a hole dug into the snow.
burmacampaign.org.uk/montblanc.html
For more information Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, on 020 7324 4714, or Mark Farmaner, Media Officer, on 020 7324 4713.