Hi everyone,

Welcome to our fundraising page! We (Annabelle Perry, Lucy Clist, Meghan Horn and Beth McCarthy) are the EY Bristol Consultants who will be tackling a 7-day trek through the Sahara desert in October 2022, in aid of the EY Foundation.

Whilst this trek will be a once in a lifetime experience, it will also be incredibly physically and mentally challenging. We will be following an ancient Berber route through vast hamada and arid sands on a hunt for the region's highest dune (Erg Chegaga, 300m), walking over 200km. Along the trail we will be sleeping in traditional Berber tents and adapting to life without modern-day luxuries (i.e. no showers, no bathrooms and no signal). Furthermore, we will be dealing with a huge range of temperatures, with daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, and night time temperatures dropping below freezing! The trek will definitely be a challenge - but for a very worthy cause!

The EY Foundation is an independent UK charity, supporting young people who face significant barriers to employment. Through a deep understanding of both sides of the labour market, The EY Foundation bring young people and employers together to close the skills gap between UK business and hidden talent. All the money raised will support young people from Free School Meal backgrounds to fulfil their potential and have a better start in the working world. For example: £5 could help to fund the travel costs of a young person to attend employability skills training or a business experience session; £25 could provide a young person with access to 4G/WiFi so they can take part in online employability skills training; £100 could provide a young person with a bursary to buy suitable clothes for their work experience, and interview or future job.

We hope that you will support us in our endeavours and make a donation to the EY Foundation through our page. We have an ambitious target of raising £4,000 and are determined to smash this!

For fundraising updates and news about what we are doing next, please subscribe when you donate!

Thank you in advance for the support!

Annabelle, Lucy, Megh and Beth xxx

Note: All funds raised go directly to the EY Foundation - all material elements of the trekking challenge are independently paid for by participants.