We are taking on Mount Toubkal for Barnardo's!

Richard Fearon, Rob Howse, Martese Carton, James Keatley, Nikki Dixon, Andrea Harrison and Andrew Moody will be accompanied by our Charity Partnership and Community Manager Nikki Ayrton on taking on the challenge of trekking a huge 4,167m up Mount Toubkal in September 2025 for Barnardo's.

As a celebration of Leeds Building Society's 150th Anniversary, the team will step outside their comfort zone heading to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

Between the 18th-23rd September they will be walking at significant altitude for around eight hours a day, camping in rugged and minimalistic conditions and be away from home comforts, all to raise vital funds for our charity partner, Barnardo’s. The funding will all go towards Barnardo's GAP homes scheme.

What is the GAP homes scheme?

Some young people aren’t ready to live independently and have their own tenancy at 16 or 17 but they find themselves in a situation where they have to. This can be for a variety of reasons, such as they have outgrown a children’s home, their foster placement has ended, or for another reason, such as pregnancy.

Gap Homes fills the gap. It gives them somewhere stable that they can call home and also provides the support they need. The current housing crisis means that there’s not a lot of available housing, let alone for young people leaving care who are particularly vulnerable.

The housing that’s sometimes offered to them can be so unsuitable that it can set them back and undermines any support they've been offered. This can have truly devastating consequences, including resulting in homelessness.

Gap Homes offer young people leaving care a comfortable home. As soon as they walk in the front door, they don't need to worry about the house. It doesn’t dominate their mind, and this means they can concentrate on themselves and what they do want to do with their lives.