Brighton man climbs mountain for charity

A Brighton man who scaled the highest mountain in the UK on 28th September to help raise more than £40,000 for the NSPCC, returned home to Brighton last week.

Tommy Doyle, 29, musician and creative producer for Create4, climbed Ben Nevis in Scotland wearing a pair of gold hot-pants, carrying a children’s stuffed animal toy and a tub of glitter face paint.

To climb a mountain may be old hat these days but to do it in gold hot-pants is quite a feat

He trekked 17km to the summit and back in six hours with 70 other volunteers from across the country.

He said: “I wanted to do something I’d never done before. So I set myself this challenge, got up, and did it.

"The rewards are instantaneous and to do it all for a charity is even better. ”

The team included people of different ages and varying backgrounds and ranged from groups of middle-aged women to a handful of digger drivers carrying an aluminium JCB model as they climbed.

To drum up sponsorship for his climb Mr Doyle set himself a chilli-eating challenge, inspired by the contest at the Fiery Foods Festival at Victoria Gardens, in which he has previously competed.

He added: “The manager of Chilli Pepper Pete’s was on hand at my Chilli Challenge to offer professional advice and explain the heat progression of each chilli. I ate one of the hottest chillies in the world and all for a great cause!”

The challenge was shown on YouTube and viewers were invited to donate through a link to www.justgiving.com/tommyclimbsamountain

To raise the profile of his charitable climb in a typically Brighton style Mr Doyle set about glittering the town folk.

At pubs, bars and clubs around Brighton he charged party-goers £1 for a face full of gold glitter face-paint.

Mr Doyle said: “By the end of the night most of the people at the club would have been glittered, but on the mountain I was the only one.”

The £40,000 donation will go towards a programme that educates schools to the work of the NSPCC and raises awareness to children all over the UK that they have rights, too.

Through similar breakthrough programmes child abuse has been stemmed through increasing reports made by children themselves.