In November 2024 I'll be setting out on my biggest challenge yet and trekking to Everest base camp to raise money for Barnardo's.

The events of recent years have left over a third of young people feeling that the odds are stacked against them. Co-op think that they deserve a better future, and so we have teamed up with Barnardo's to bring communities together to support our young people.

Co-op colleagues are walking, running, cycling and climbing to raise £5m over the next two and a half years to support 750,000 young people to access basic needs like food, to manage their mental wellbeing and provide opportunities to support their futures. 

Personally, after a tough few years mentally during and post Covid, I've worked hard to both push myself out of my comfort zone and do more of what makes me proud of myself, whether that be going out on more adventures and growing as a person or helping and supporting others with their own mental health through sharing what I know and what I've learnt.

Whilst out on my first solo hike bagging my first Wainrights (Old Man of Coniston and Swirl How), I met someone who told me it was 70 years to the day that Hilary and Norgay first summited Everest and that afternoon I saw that there was a Co-op trek to base camp and I just knew I had to say yes both for myself and for the opportunities that my fundraising could provide.

I am also cruelty free and vegan and will be working hard to show people that you can be strong, fit and resilient on a vegan diet and that you don't need to fund the cruel industries of down and wool to go on adventures comfortably.