On Monday 3 September, The Duke of York and Ffion Hague will be abseiling the tallest building in Western Europe, The Shard, in support of the educational charity The Outward Bound Trust and the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund.

His Royal Highness, Ffion Hague and 38 participants will take part in the ‘Descent of The Shard’ all pledging to raise considerable funds for the two charities.  Twenty of this dare devil group will take part in the full abseil which spans 250m between the summit of the building at the 87th floor down to the 20th floor.  The other twenty will abseil the shorter but highest distance between the summit and 78th floor. 

As one of the longest abseils ever undertaken by civilians the ‘Descent of The Shard’ will have support from the Royal Marines, the UK’s elite Commando Forces, who specialise in operating in extreme environments.  They will also provide training and support on the day for those taking part in the abseil as they make their descent.

LBQ Limited, owners of The Shard, said: “We are delighted to welcome The Duke of York back to The Shard following his key role in the building’s inauguration. We are extremely pleased that The Shard is the centrepiece of this huge fund raising exercise for these incredibly worthy causes. Equally important to us is that these charities, The Outward Bound Trust and Royal Marines, are going to involve a number of young Southwark residents in the abseil.  A substantial number of bursaries will be made available to hundreds of young people from the Borough to attend The Outward Bound Trust’s life-changing courses.”

A minimum of £100,000 will be allocated to specifically support young people in Southwark and enable over 700 young people from the Borough to attend an Outward Bound Course.  The remainder will be used to complete a major redevelopment of The Trust’s founding centre in North Wales. 

The Outward Bound Trust is the UK's leading provider of bursary-assisted outdoor learning and has worked with over 1 million young people since its foundation in 1941. The Duke of York succeeded HRH The Duke of Edinburgh as Chairman of Trustees to The Outward Bound Trust in 1999 and has since then devoted much of his time to the organisation.

The unique event will be taking place on Monday 3 September. Donations in support of His Royal Highness and Ffion’s abseil can be made at www.descentoftheshard.com/the-descendants.

Nick Barrett, CEO of The Outward Bound Trust commented, “The Outward Bound Trust is delighted to be one of the beneficiary charities of the amazing Descent of The Shard challenge. The Trust works with 25,000 young people each year and runs challenging and adventurous courses that increase levels of confidence, self-belief and resilience in participants, a great many of whom come from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Mark Noble, the Chief Executive of the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund commented, “We are delighted to be part of this unique event.  It provides an outstanding fundraising platform for the Commando Spirit Appeal to raise money on behalf of the Charity.  The funds generated by this once-in-a-lifetime event will go a long way towards assisting our efforts in supporting the Royal Marines Corps Family.  We would like to extend our gratitude to all participants and in particular the support shown by HRH The Duke of York and Ffion Hague.”