Engineer Marco Cremona, who was recently declared the Johnnie Walker Man of the Year, has decided to donate his prize money to a Nepalese orphan.

As the winner of the award, Mr Cremona recently received €500 to donate to a charity of his choice from Matthew Miceli Demajo, General Manager and Director of M. Demajo (Wines & Spirits) Ltd.

Mr Cremona, an engineer specialising in environmental technologies and hydrology, earlier this year formed part of the first Maltese team to climb Mt Everest.

His prize money will be used to fund the first year of the studies of Juna Tamang, an 18 year old orphan who is going to start a bachelor's degree in psychology.

When Juna’s father died her mother left her and her older sister with relatives who couldn’t take care of them either. Through the intervention of the Samundra Devi Unesco Club they were sent to the Riou Academy Nepal and eventually transferred to the Kids Shangrila Home.

Commenting on his choice Mr Cremona said, "The lovely country of Nepal has given me some of the best experiences of my life, so it is only natural that I want to give something back. And what better way than to give somebody a chance in life, then through education! The Johnnie Walker Man of the Year Award has saved a life today".

The Johnnie Walker Man of the Year Award is organised annually by M. Demajo (Wines & Spirits) Ltd., local distributors of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky.