´óÏó´«Ã½

A charity whose founder was part of the first UK team to summit Everest via the south-west face has now raised more than £6m for people in Nepal.

Doug Scott and his team completed the challenge via the south-west summit in 1975.

He died of cancer aged 79 in December, months after raising thousands for his charity Community Action Nepal (CAN) by climbing his stairs in lockdown.

One of his supporters was 10-month-old Lenny who crawled the challenge.

Trustee for CAN, Jon Maguire, said a team of 15 people had pledged to raise £20,000 for the charity by climbing Everest in 2022 or when it was safe to do so.

He also said CAN had helped 250,000 mountain people, built schools and backed smaller projects such as goat-rearing and mushroom production.

"We now have a large hole in our fundraising strategy since losing Doug," Mr Maguire said.

"He was such a key player in this role, using both his profile as an esteemed mountaineer and his enduring commitment to delivering lectures around the UK, often involving gruelling travel schedules right up until his diagnosis in early 2020.

"CAN needs to raise around £400,000 a year to maintain and develop our projects in Nepal.

"We are now reaching out to our supporter base and already have a huge amount of very committed, passionate and caring individuals who give up their time and energy to organise fund-raising events.

"Our youngest supporter last year was 10 months old."

Nottingham-born Mr Scott, who had cancer, died at his home in Caldbeck, in the Lake District on 7 December.

He and his team achieved world-wide fame when on , expedition leader Chris Bonington reported Dougal Haston and Mr Scott, part of an 18-strong group, had reached the 29,028ft (8,848m) summit safely and were on their way down the mountain.

The south-west face of Everest has been regarded as one of mountaineering's most difficult challenges because of its length and exposure to high-level winds.

Sir Chris, who was friends with Mr Scott for more than 50 years, said his achievements as a philanthropist were as great as his mountaineering achievements.

He said: "His passion was climbing, but equally giving back to society and improving the living conditions of Sherpas living off the beaten track of the uplands of Nepal.

"He wasn't looking for honours, but valued the respect of the climbing community."

Sir Chris said he spent many happy hours climbing with his friend in Cumbria, but especially recalls the drama of July 1977, when they became the first climbers to reach the summit of The Ogre, a 23,901ft (7,285m) high craggy mountain in Karakoram in Pakistan.

During their descent they fell, Sir Chris smashing his ribs and Mr Scott breaking both legs. They spent almost a week battling to get back to base camp thanks to their team and the help of locals.

Sir Chris said neither were put off climbing and his friend showed "extraordinary courage and strength."

He said it was this battle for survival that inspired him to take up charitable work to help local people, many living in areas where child poverty death rates were more than 50%.

A in aid of CAN is being held at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington Gore, London, on 25 November.