We are so pleased to share Tim's story...

My name is Tim Batstone and in April I am leaving the comforts of my Oxfordshire home and heading to the Himalayas to attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth – sometime in May. Nothing too remarkable other than that, at 67, I am not exactly a spring chicken. Indeed if I succeed (note carefully the word if) then I will be one of only two British old age pensioners and in the top 10 oldest people full stop (according to Google) who have reached the summit of Everest.

I don’t think I am completely deluded, having recently warmed up by climbing Aconcagua- at 7,000m the highest mountain in the Andes during which, by the way, I discovered that spending freezing nights in tiny tents close to the jet stream is not fun (at all).

(Mindless) endurance challenges have always appealed to me - for example some 40 years ago I spent 70 days circumnavigating Britain on a windsurfer and have since done various swimming, running, cycling and mountaineering challenges too. Everest has long been on my to do list and I am excited to have finally got round to tackling it.

Full disclosure the training has been challenging physically and has exposed one or two issues – I had an injection for an inflamed ankle in November which had me walking on crutches for a couple of weeks and my knees are sometimes a bit reluctant to play ball. However I feel that I am giving myself the best chance with the guide, Kenton Cool - 19 Everest summits to his (apt) name - in my corner. You can follow our progress through Kenton’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kentoncool

Raising money for good causes is something I am passionate about and it has been a huge motivator in my various sporting endeavours over the years - and this will for sure be a task for which I will need every scrap of encouragement that I can get.

I would be absolutely thrilled if you felt able to help me raise as much money as possible for Wellington's Excellence and Access Campaign* with this Everest challenge (and give me an additional spur to take that ‘one more little step’. ) As a current parent I am delighted to do what I can to support the amazing Wellington College now and into the future.

Many thanks for taking the time to read about my project …and for any contribution you may feel able to make, however small.

Chomolungma here we come!

Tim

*The Excellence and Access Campaign is a bold, 5-year initiative to make sure Wellington College remains a place of world-class education and genuine opportunity. At its heart, the campaign focuses on three things: people, place, and access — investing in exceptional educators and pioneering programmes, creating facilities that support wellbeing and real-world learning, and opening Wellington to talented young people who would otherwise never have the opportunity to come here.