BT provides celebrity climb sponsorship

BT is to sponsor nine celebrities taking part in an expedition to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for Comic Relief. The BT Red Nose Climb will see celebrities including Gary Barlow (pictured), Chris Moyles and Cheryl Cole climbing the South African mountain for charity.

BT will cover the costs of the stars’ attempts to tackle the 19,340ft mountain, and will also be running a number of fundraising initiatives to help raise funds for Comic Relief.

The expedition will begin next month. Other celebrities set to take part include Ronan Keating, Denise Van Outen, Alesha Dixon, Fearne Cotton, Kimberly Walsh, and Ben Shephard.

The BBC will broadcast an hour-long documentary of the attempt on BBC One during the week leading up to Red Nose Day on March 13 2009.

John Petter, consumer managing director at BT Retail, says: “This campaign is a natural fit with our values, brand and products and we have some exciting initiatives that we’ll be revealing as we get closer to the expedition.”

BT will also be raising funds through marketing initiatives in its business units including BT Vision, BT Total Broadband, BT Business and the BT Shop, as well as a major employee fundraising programme. BT will also run the donation line on the telathon night and its eDonate system will provide a secure online back-up for Comic Relief’s website.

The public will be able to sponsor the celebrities on a dedicated Kilimanjaro page on www.rednoseday.com.