'I'm going to Everest to move on from school abuse'
- Published
Nial Mackinlay locked his experience away and only told his family what had happened to him two years ago
In harsh winter conditions they've racked up training miles in Scotland's mountains to prepare for their journey to the roof of the world.
But these aren't your typical band of adventurers.
The group heading to the Himalayas next month are mostly former pupils of Edinburgh Academy.
As schoolboys, a number of them were physically and sexually abused by teachers at the prestigious, fee paying school.
Historical abuse has been exposed at the school in recent years and highlighted by former pupils including broadcaster Nicky Campbell at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
Police Scotland is also investigating allegations relating to the school.
Now men in their fifties and sixties, the group has emerged from decades of silence and secrecy with a shared determination to turn childhood trauma into something positive.
They are preparing to trek to Everest Base Camp to raise money for children's charity the NSPCC.
"I don't want to be angry for the rest of my life," says Nial Mackinlay, a member of the group who was an Edinburgh academy pupil during the 1970s.
"There were a specific two masters that abused me. They did the harm but now I want to reach base camp with a big smile on my face and then hopefully move on while at the same time raise lots of money."
The former pupils of Edinburgh Academy have been training in Glencoe along with friends and family members who will be taking part in the adventure
Nial says the abuse he suffered meant he had difficulty with long term relationships.
He thought what happened to him was "locked in a box forever" until July 2022, when he heard the broadcaster Nicky Campbell - who'd been in the year above him - speak publicly about his own experience of abuse at the school.
"It was like the damhead bursting and the box was open," Nial said.
"I told my wife and family and started processing it and met this amazing group of people who've been through [something] similar."
That shared experience is the "glue" that binds the group together, according to Neil Russell, another member of the group.
A retired accountant, the abuse he suffered as a teenager had a huge impact on his adult life.
The impact of abuse he endured as a teenager led Neil Russell to an attempt to take his life
"I left school in 1974 and I had my first breakdown and suicide attempt in 1990," he says.
"Those 16 years were a slow descent to the bottom because I was just lost I was absolutely lost. I didn't understand life. I didn't understand who I was."
"It was incredibly hard to explain to people why I behaved the way I behaved and I've had many labels, clinical depression, bi-polar disorder, PTSD, all sorts of things."
Once again it was the publicity surrounding Nicky Campbell's revelations that helped Neil realise he wasn't alone.
He joined the WhatsApp group for Edinburgh Academy abuse survivors which now has more than 70 members.
"The first person I met in person was Nicky himself and we spoke for 15 minutes, Neil says.
"At the end of it we both said it's like we've known each other all our lives."
"That experience has been repeated time and time and time again, the circumstances are different but the experience is exactly the same. You just feel that you've known these people forever."
Giles Moffat set up a survivors' WhatsApp group and will now lead the Everest expedition
The WhatsApp group was set up by Giles Moffat, the leader of the Everest expedition.
"We want to channel all the negativity into something positive' he says.
"One in five kids are still abused today and that's why we're going to try and raise as much money as possible to protect these guys. We want our experience to count for something."
For Giles it's also an opportunity to achieve a "dream" of reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
While the rest of the group end their trek at base camp, he and one other will continue to the summit.
To prepare for the altitude he's been sleeping in an oxygen tent attached to his bed at home.
"[Climbing Everest] is not technically hard, it's largely mental," he says.
"If you like mountains and an element of suffering on mountains you will do it."
Friends and family will join the Ex Edinburgh Academy pupils on the expedition
For the rest of the group - who set off for Nepal next month - they plan to reach Everest Base Camp which involves a nine day trek to 17,000 feet.
"We're all doing it for each other and for the guys that can't come along," says Nial Mackinlay.
"It's going to be crucial having that bond. I'm really excited. I'm nervous because nobody knows how the altitude is going to affect us.
"All we can do is do the training and then just go out, stick together and we'll get there"
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