Sahara Trek Sees Out-Sand-Ing £120,000 Raised for Sick Kids

A group of 35 adventurers who dusted off their walking boots to take on a 100km trek across the Sahara Desert have raised over an out-sand-ing £120,000 for our charity.

The cohort was made up of two teams of the charity’s supporters, including 28 from fundraising group Carter The Brave, which was set up in 2016 by Lichfield mum, Lucy Chatting, to raise funds to support the oncology department at our hospital, where her son Carter (12) was cared for, after he was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of four. Since then, Lucy and Carter the Brave have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for us through fundraising challenges, balls and other events, to fund medical equipment, research, gaming facilities for patients and more. Carter rang the end of treatment bell in 2019 and remains under our hospital’s care.

Lucy and her husband, Matthew Chatting were joined by: Jamie Norgrove, Keith Stoneman, Sunita Sandhu, Kirtsy Mott, Catherine Ravenscroft, Rebecca Cartter, Joanne Wright, Chris Howland, Charles Bedson, Katharine Bedson, Sara Wright, Radhika McCathie, Emily Hiskins, Mark Coleman, Laura Rafferty, Samantha Hennah, Sylvia Atkinson, Paul Wilson, Elizabeth Hindley, Michelle Huggett, Claire Lovell and colleagues from St Philips Chambers; Joe Wilson, Ed Beevers, Matthew Cullen, Annabel Hale, Molly Roberts and Raghav Trivedi.

The second team was Trek for Ted, a group of family and friends walking in support of three-year-old cardiac patient, Teddy, who has been under the care of our hospital since he was born with a rare heart condition. Leading Trek for Ted was Teddy’s grandad, Kevin Jackson, who previously encouraged his colleagues, a group of former Goodyear tyre factory workers, to support us through the 5/344 Transport and General Workers Union Benevolent Fund. Inspired by Teddy’s story, the fund, donated over £65,000, some of which was used to fund a high-fidelity newborn simulation mannequin, to help train our colleagues for emergency scenarios to save lives of children like Teddy. Kevin was joined by his daughter and Teddy’s auntie, Natasha Jackson, Matt Pitt and Ben and Izzy Holleron.

With experiences of incredible care in common, Carter the Brave and Trek for Ted united their passions for our hospital, and joined by our charity CEO, Mark Brider, and Challenge Events Manager, James Lunney, they flew out to Marrakech to begin the challenge of a lifetime.

After a long two-day drive from the airport to M’Hamid, a small town on the outskirts of the Sahara Desert, the trekkers set off on their five-day long adventure, supported by expert guides and a caravan of camels.

Over the course of the week the group endured the scorching sun, battled sandstorms and conquered the highest dunes in the desert. They supported each other through tough moments and personal challenges to ensure all 35 team-mates crossed the finish line.

Lucy said: “Trekking the Sahara was the most epic challenge and experience and I’m so grateful to the whole team — which felt like family by the end — for the support, teamwork and endless blister plasters that saw us complete the trek together. I still can’t believe how much we managed to raise through this challenge — £109,000 — and I’m so proud to be continuing the important work of Carter The Brave, to help more kids and families at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, going through the same as Carter did.”

Kevin said: “We’ve been on such an incredible adventure and I couldn’t have asked for a better or more supportive group of people to share it with. Birmingham Children’s Hospital means so much to our family because of everything the teams have done for Teddy, and to take on this challenge a group full of likeminded people was so special. I’m over the moon with our fundraising total so far.”

Mark Brider, CEO at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “It was an honour and a privilege for both James and I to join teams Carter The Brave and Trek for Ted on the Sahara Trek challenge.

“There were some incredibly challenging moments out there but every single person dug so deep, drawing on their own experiences and motivations to keep going and complete the challenge for our sick kids. It was truly humbling to be a part of that and I’d like to thank all of the group members, from the bottom of my heart, for making such a commitment to support our hospital and charity.”