On the 11th October 2008 five cadets from Prince William School set off to Kathmandu on an expedition to reach Everest Base Camp. Their mission was to raise money for the well known charity ‘Help for Heroes’, founded to help those who have been wounded in Britain’s current conflicts.

James Burton, Lydia Chalmers, Sam Marsden, Edd Snoxell and Sam Walker had planned the trip for several months and had orchestrated various events to raise money to fund their expedition and for the charity itself. They joined a team of co-climbers, including six adult instructors from Leicstershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland ACF, three mountain leaders and one doctor.

After arriving at Kathmandu, the group spent a day there in order to gain the most from their cultured surroundings, which included exploring the centre of old Kathmandu and visiting a Monkey Temple. The group subsequently flew by light aircraft to Lukla airport, taking off from a perilously high and slightly irregular runway based on the mountainside.

The five cadets previously had received intense training in order to prepare themselves for the climb. Fitness is essential and all the cadets agreed that without the instruction and training they would have been incapable of the physically demanding climb. The ten day trek to the Base Camp of Everest covered roughly 35 miles, climbing from 9000 feet to 17500 feet in a very thin and debilitating atmosphere.

After triumphantly reaching Base Camp, the party returned to Kathmandu to visit a remote school with just 750 children situated in the poorest, most underprivileged area in the city. The five pupils spent time meeting and getting to know the children and decorated five of the classrooms in the school. The school they visited is partly funded by the charity ‘Child Education Nepal UK’.

Because the trip was such a great success, further detachments from the Cadet Force wish to follow their example and venture on an expedition to raise more money for charity.