A Fermanagh businessman will attempt to ride a motorcycle over 2,340km from Kathmandu in Nepal to the North Face Base Camp of Mount Everest in Tibet, with the aim of raising funds and awareness for two important charities: Action Cancer, and the Rotary International Global Polio Eradication Programme: End Polio Now.

David Donaldson, founder of LE Graphics, has been fundraising for Action Cancer for 22 years and this year he will set out on what is perhaps his most technical fundraising challenge yet.

Outlining his “most challenging fundraiser” to date, David said: “In October this year I shall attempt to ride a motorcycle from Kathmandu in Nepal to the North Face Base Camp of Mount Everest in Tibet.

“This extreme 2,340km journey will take me across the desolate and lonely high-altitude plains of the Tibetan Plateau.

“[I’ll be] in the saddle for 15 days, and at times riding at over 17,000 feet in the thin Himalayan air.

“Eventually we will reach our ultimate destination, Mount Everest’s North Face Base Camp, at 5,200 metres above sea level.

“Of course, what goes up must come down, and after a night camping at base camp we will complete the circular journey back to Kathmandu by motorcycle, before commencing the long journey home,” he said, adding: “I’m fairly sure this is going to be the most challenging fundraiser I’ve attempted yet!”

David has been planning this fundraising challenge for some time. However, China closed the border into Tibet at the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and only re-started issuing border permits in early May.

“I am taking on this challenge to help raise awareness and much needed funds for the Northern Ireland-based charity, Action Cancer.

“This will be my 11th international challenge for Action Cancer, and for personal reasons this year I’m also intending to support the Rotary International Global Polio Eradication Programme: End Polio Now,” said David, going on to note why he has chosen to support this charity specifically.

“In January, 2021, in the midst of the global pandemic, I lost my mentor and my greatest role model. My father Robert passed away, leaving a massive void in the lives of all who knew him.

“Dad had been a victim of polio, living his whole life with the after effects of this terrible disease.

“Ultimately, it was complications as a result of his childhood polio and the ensuing post-polio syndrome which took him away from us.

“The money raised through the Ride to Everest Challenge will be split with 75 per cent going to Action Cancer and 25 per cent going to the Rotary International End Polio Now campaign.

“End Polio Now is the beneficiary of a generous two-for-one fund-matching programme through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, meaning that the 25 per cent going there will be tripled up to the same value as the 75 per cent going to Action Cancer,” he explained.

To donate to David’s charity fundraiser, contact him directly, or see his GoFundMe page: Ride to Everest 2023.