Mission: Everest four focused on raising £1m for veterans’ charities
While his record-breaking ascent of Mount Everest may be complete, Minister for Armed Forces Al Carns’s mission to raise £1m for veterans’ charities continues.
In May this year, Carns and three former British Special Forces colleagues – Garth Miller, Kevin Godlington and Anthony “Staz” Stazicker – set a new record for getting from London to the summit of Everest and back.
London-Everest-London is six-and-a-half days
With the creative use of xenon gas to help their bodies absorb and transport greater volumes of oxygen, they completed Mission: Everest in six-and-a-half days, smashing the previous record of 21 days.
Their astounding feat was rivaled only by the size of their fundraising goal. Alongside all their other sponsorships and fundraising, they have raised just below £100,000 on their crowdfunding page. The target is £1m, and efforts are ongoing to hit it.
Prints of the iconic Mission: Everest summit painting are on sale
Last week, the Mission: Everest team staged an autumn ball in London where they were offering for sale limited-edition prints of a painting of Al and his three teammates at the summit of the world’s highest peak.
The original artwork was painted by artist Anthony Jefferson Hanson, known as Ashenso_gh, a celebrated Ghanaian creative now based in Wolverhampton was sold for thousands on the evening, raising money for Scotty’s Little Soldiers.
Prints can be ordered from the Mission: Everest website: https://missioneverest.co.uk/
Carns, speaking on Remembrance Day, said: “We set out on a challenge to climb Everest in seven days and break the record by two weeks.
“We’ve all lost people while serving and protecting our nation and wanted to make sure that those young people left behind are not forgotten.
‘Fortune favours the brave’
“Whilst I wouldn’t recommend climbing Everest in six-and-a-half days, I am delighted that so many people have rallied around and contributed to the cause supporting bereaved military families. Fortune favours the brave.”
Since leaving the army for a career in politics, Carns has spoken of his admiration for the volunteers in his Birmingham Selly Oak constituency, and elsewhere, who keep things running smoothly.
‘We can all go above and beyond’
“I am consistently impressed by so many volunteers in my constituency and across the West Mids who go above and beyond their professional and personal time to do something for something they care about – a park, a school, a charity, a community effort,” he said.
“This was no different and hopefully demonstrates that even Members of Parliament can go above and beyond for our communities and the nation as a whole.”
