Helping young people 'one mountain at a time'

A man set to embark on his third epic charity adventure this year says he hopes to give "young people hope for the future one mountain at a time".

Trevor Rigley, from Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, says he had a difficult childhood and has since struggled with his mental health but will lead a team of 10 up Mount Everest on 4 November.

The climb is part of six treks, including two earlier this year in which the 50-year-old led teams up Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in Morocco, and through the Sahara desert - collectively raising more than £193,000 for charity.

Next year he is due to take teams again through the Sahara and climb Toubkal, finishing with the Tour du Mont Blanc in the Alps.

Mr Rigley said he "didn't have a great childhood" and left to live in Ireland where he spent 20 years.

However, he said he was "mentally broken" and decided to leave his job, career and a marriage to return to Leicestershire with a vision to "restart" his life following the death of his father in 2015.

"I hit rock bottom," he said. "I had to make a change and wanted to embrace the spirit of saying yes."

Mr Rigley said in 2016 he was given the opportunity to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, whilst working as a supermarket manager.

"I'd never climbed a mountain, slept in a tent, or even fundraised before - and I'm afraid of heights," he said.

"But I said yes without hesitation, and a year later I'd raised £5,000 for charity and was stood on the top of the highest mountain in Africa."

He looked for his next challenge and conquered Everest Base Camp, which lies on the border of Nepal and Tibet in the Himalayan mountain range in Asia, for the first time less than 12 months later.

Mr Rigley, who describes himself as an "accidental adventurer", later scaled Everest again and then Toubkal in 2022.

Now the Co-op project manager, who is returning to Everest with 10 of his colleagues, said climbing was the "best detox for my mental health".

"I was in floods of tears when we completed Everest for the first time in 2018," he said.

"It was incredibly difficult, but great and proud of our achievement. We had amazing support."

Mr Rigley said he hoped the money raised would help provide children with the opportunities he lacked in his own childhood.

"My own daughter is five years old, and I want her to grow up without limits," he added.

The money will go towards a charity partnership between Barnardo's and Co-op Group, which are aiming to raise £5m to support "positive futures" for 750,000 young people in the UK.

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