Press Information

March 2007

Flight for Sight - Blind microlight adventurer aims to raise £1 million by flying from London to Sydney

On 7 March 2007 blind adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber begins his bid to become the first blind aviator in history to fly half-way round the world. In doing so, Miles aims to raise £1 million to combat preventable blindness.

Miles will use revolutionary speech-output technology to fly his specially customised microlight plane and will be accompanied during this 13,500 mile epic flight by Brian Milton, who will fly from the London to Cyprus, and Richard Meredith-Hardy, who will take over in Cyprus and fly Australia. The team are embarking on this mission of a lifetime to raise funds for Standard Chartered Bank's charity, Seeing is Believing, seeking to help Vision 20:20 eradicate preventable blindness in developing countries around the world.

The microlight journey will be completed in stages, with the route following the classic London-Sydney 1919 Air Race, travelling across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, via Pakistan, India and Burma to Malaysia and Indonesia down to Darwin, then to Sydney. Miles will be stopping in many of Standard Chartered's markets on his way.

The aircraft will be a British-built 100 HP flexwing Pegasus Mainair GT 450, capable of cruising at 70 mph. The Microlight Team hope to undertake up to two flights a day, completing the journey in under 55 days.

Standard Chartered recently unveiled the latest stage of its Seeing is Believing programme, with the aim of making a difference to the lives of 10 million people by raising USD 10 million by World Sight Day 2010. The statistics on blindness are shocking – round the world every 5 seconds someone goes blind. There are 37 million blind people worldwide, 90 per cent of which live in the developing world yet an astonishing 75 per cent of blindness is avoidable.

Miles Hilton-Barber, pilot and blind adventurer, said: "Sight is a wonderful gift many take for granted. Whilst I will never see again in this life, helping to give this priceless gift back to many others who can be helped through our flight will make it all worthwhile. When I was 18 I applied to be a fighter pilot, but was later rejected due to poor eyesight. Now, 37 years later and blind as a bat, I have this wonderful opportunity and privilege to fly more than half-way around the world."

Richard Meddings, Group Finance Director, said: "Miles embodies Standard Chartered's values and his courage and optimism are truly inspiring. Standard Chartered is delighted that Miles is raising funds for Seeing is Believing on his microlight adventure. Miles' efforts will help us in our quest to help millions of people around the globe in the fight against avoidable blindness".

If you would like to support Miles, Brian and Richard in their mission to help the millions of blind people across the world through offering a donation, then please go to www.seeingisbelieving.org.uk/microlightadventure. For every US Dollar donated, Standard Chartered Bank will match the donation, up to a maximum of USD 5 million. To keep in touch with Microlight Team you can logon to their website at www.seeingisbelieving.org.uk/microlightadventure, which will be updated regularly and will include pictures and blogs from Miles about his adventures.

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Note to editors

Miles Hilton-Barber

Miles has achieved more than many others would even dare consider. Despite being blind for over 25 years, Miles has still lived his dreams, encouraging us to realise that "The only limits in our lives are those we accept ourselves." His remarkable adventures in recent years, setting numerous world records in the process, include:

• Attempting to be the first blind person to reach the South Pole, in the process man-hauling a sledge over 250 miles across Antarctica
• Completing "The Toughest Foot-race on Earth" - 150 miles across the Sahara Desert in the Marathon des Sables
• Climbing to 17,500 feet in the Himalayas
• Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and Mt. Blanc - Africa's/Europe's highest mountains
• Running the 11-day Ultra-Marathon race across China from Gobi Desert to Great Wall
• Completing the "Coldest Marathon on Earth"- the Siberian Ice Marathon
• Crossing entire Qatar Desert non-stop day/night in 78 hours without sleep
• Circumnavigating 38,000 miles around world using 80 forms of transport
• Setting Malaysian Grand Prix lap record for blind driver in 200kph Lotus
• Setting new British high-altitude record for a tandem microlight (climbing to 20,300 feet with open-cockpit temperatures plummeting to minus 55 degrees Centigrade, frosting flight instruments in the process)
• Completing more than 40 skydiving jumps to date

www.mileshilton-barber.com

Richard Meredith-Hardy

Richard is one of the greatest Microlight pilots in the world today. He has participated in events all over the world and in 2006 was awarded the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) Gold Air Medal. This is one of the highest FAI awards, and one the previous recipients is Charles Lindbergh. Richard's amazing Microlight career includes:

• Aerotowed a hang glider to within 1000 ft of the summit of Everest and then flew to a maximum of 29,954 ft over the summit
   
• Towing a hang glider over Acongagua, Argentina, the World's highest mountain outside the Himalayas, 6,962 m / 22,841 ft
• Received Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club, Awarded "for outstanding achievement in aviation". Only the 67th ever awarded at that time
• Appointed part time consultant to the The British Microlight Aircraft Association (BMAA) on all matters relating to the organisation of BMAA systems regarding foot launched microlight training and airworthiness
• Winner of the '10th Great Microlight air rally' for a record three time, 1580 miles around Britain in 4½ days
• Won the World Championship both individually and as part of team
• Winner of the World Cup

Brian Milton

Brian Milton is a born adventurer. His interest in microlighting grew out of his love for hang-gliding. He was the first man to ever fly around the world and has written a number of books about his adventures. Brian's love for Microlighting can be seen in his expeditions:

• His flight in the Dalgety Flyer (a three-axis microlight) in 1987 from London to Sydney in 59 days was, at the time, the longest microlight flight in history
• In 1998 he became the first person to fly a microlight around the world. He achieved this in 80 flying days over a period of 120 days
• He was awarded the Britannia Trophy in 1998, one of the world's greatest aviation awards
• June 2001 saw Brian in New York preparing for a new challenge - to awake the dream of the Atlantic Ocean by flying a microlight non-stop along the route of Alcock and Brown

Seeing is Believing

The latest ambition for the Seeing is Believing programme aims to make a difference to the lives of 10 million people by raising USD 10 Million by World Sight Day 2010

Seeing is Believing supports VISION 2020 - The Right to Sight, a global collaboration bringing together the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, the World Health Organisation, international non-governmental organisations and health workers. VISION 2020's aim is to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020.

The previous phase of Seeing is Believing, Standard Chartered Bank's unique community investment programme, aimed to raise USD 6 million by World Sight day 2006 and to contribute towards 1 million sight restorations by World Sight Day 2007. The fundraising goal was reached a year ahead of schedule and we are on track to implement 1 million sight restorations by the 2007 target date.

Successful implementation of the VISION 2020 initiative will represent a global saving of USD 223 billion in lost productivity by 2020.

In addition to the USD 10 million pledged, the Bank gives every member of its 60,000 employees two days paid volunteering leave to work on community projects such as Seeing is Believing.

www.seeingisbelieving.org.uk

Standard Chartered – leading the way in Asia, Africa and the Middle East

Standard Chartered PLC is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is consistently ranked in the top 25 among FTSE-100 companies by market capitalisation.

Standard Chartered has a history of over 150 years in banking and operates in many of the world's fastest-growing markets with an extensive global network of over 1,400 branches (including subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures) in over 50 countries in the Asia Pacific Region, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the United Kingdom and the Americas.

As one of the world's most international banks, Standard Chartered employs 60,000 people, representing over 90 nationalities, worldwide. This diversity lies at the heart of the Bank's values and supports the Bank's growth as the world increasingly becomes one market.

With strong organic growth supported by strategic alliances and acquisitions and driven by its strengths in the balance and diversity of its business, products, geography and people, Standard Chartered is well positioned in the emerging trade corridors of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Standard Chartered derives over 90 per cent of profits from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Serving both Consumer and Wholesale Banking customers worldwide, the Bank combines deep local knowledge with global capability to offer a wide range of innovative products and services as well as award-winning solutions.

Trusted across its network for its standard of governance and corporate responsibility, Standard Chartered takes a long term view of the consequences of its actions to ensure that the Bank builds a sustainable business through social inclusion, environmental protection and good governance.

Standard Chartered is also committed to all its stakeholders by living its values in its approach towards managing its people, exceeding expectations of its customers, making a difference in communities and working with regulators.

www.standardchartered.com