VocaLink, the specialist provider of transaction services to banks, has launched a scheme to help raise money for Bonita Norris in her attempt to become the youngest British female to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in order to raise money for Global Angels.
VocaLink, as the official sponsor of the challenge, is trying to raise funds for Bonita and the Global Angels charity through its network of almost 50,000 Mobile Phone Top-Up (MPTU) ATMs across the UK.
To raise the money, VocaLink has managed to get together some of the major UK banks* who have agreed to donate 5p to Global Angels every time someone tops-up a mobile phone** during March and April using a LINK ATM.
Bonita will be climbing Mount Everest to raise money for Global Angels, an international foundation which champions the causes of children around the world to help provide sustainable solutions. Every pound received from public donations goes directly to projects working at grass-roots level to empower children and their communities.
Bonita will be looking to climb Mount Everest’s towering 8,848 meters during May 2010 when conditions are at their best. To complete her climb, Bonita will be putting herself at risk from the dangers of frostbite, hypothermia, snow-blindness, alongside the many other perils associated with extreme altitude climbing.
The MPTU service is available through ATMs bearing the green top-up logo which include Barclays, Bank Machine, Cardpoint, Cashzone, Clydesdale Bank, Cooperative Bank, Coventry Building Society, First Trust Bank, Halifax, Hanco, HSBC, Infocash, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society, Nat West, Note Machine, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sainsbury’s Finance and Yorkshire Bank.
In addition to the Mobile Phone Top-Up service, Bonita is also auctioning 3 flags which will feature the highest bidders name or personal message. Bonita will take the flags up Mount Everest on her record breaking journey. The first flag auction will run from the 8th to the 14th March, the second flag 15th-21st and the third flag 22nd -28th.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
*Participating Banks include: Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, Bank of Scotland, Barclays, RBS, Halifax, HSBC, Natwest, Coventry, Cooperative Bank, Clydesdale, Yorkshire Bank, First Trust, Tescos Finance, Sainsbury’s Finance.
**Participating Mobile Phone Operators include: O2, Orange, Vodafone, T-mobile, Virgin Mobile, Tesco Mobile.
About VocaLink:
VocaLink is a specialist provider of transaction services to banks, their corporate customers and Government departments. The company processes domestic and international automated payments and provide ATM switching solutions. On a peak day, the VocaLink automated payment platform processes over 90 million transactions and over half a billion in a month.
VocaLink processing services offer banks euro payments reach throughout the SEPA and beyond and are complemented by value-added services that leverage industry expertise and technical capabilities. VocaLink's Faster Payments service is leading innovation in the payments industry.
Heather Forty, Skywrite, 2-6 Northburgh Street, London, EC1V OAY, +44(0)20 7608 4658
