What it was like trekking across the Sahara to raise money for the Co-op and Barnardo’s partnership

“I'm not in work at the moment as I’m on a fundraising trek in the Sahara.” 

That’s an out of office message I never thought I’d write. Yet, on 26 February, that’s exactly what happened. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to trek for days across the one and only Sahara Desert to raise money for our work as part of our partnership with Co-op had only come my way three weeks earlier.

Let’s be honest, you can’t really say no to something like that (unless, of course, you hate camping, walking, deserts, sand, etc). 

Getting ready to set off for Morocco 

I was a bit giddy and nervous. With less than three weeks to go, I didn’t know anyone else who was going on the trip. Co-op colleagues had been fundraising for a year and signed up well before that. The group WhatsApp was in full swing, and I had never met any of them in person (this even included my colleague from the fundraising team in Barnardo’s!). Would we all get on? 

On top of that, I was quite preoccupied with sun protection. How would I prevent my ginger skin from being burnt to a crisp? And what about equipment? The Co-op and Barnardo’s fundraising team provided a comprehensive packing list, and then my brain was in overdrive thinking about all the things that needed to happen before I went…. bags, toilet roll, clothes, injections, snacks, sleeping bag, first aid kit, etc.   

In the end, everything fell into place, as it often does, and none of that mattered – well, sun protection did, but a massive hat and sun cream goes a long way! 

The journey  

We arrived in Marrakech and were picked up by our Berber guides in a minibus. We then left the city bound for the mountains and onwards to the desert. As we drove and crossed over the Atlas Mountains, the colour of the land became a terracotta red which followed us as we journeyed onwards.  

After an overnight stop in a hotel, we were truly in the desert. The trek, spanning several days, took us through extraordinary landscapes including dunes, ancient oases, and vast expanses of desert terrain.  

Led by our expert guides, we navigated the heat, a sandstorm, and a route which I couldn’t recreate if I tried. The guides seemed to drift with purpose to where we were supposed to be which always included a camp and a feast.  

I have no idea how the Berber team cooked such amazing food in the desert – delicious tagine and soups were a daily occurrence, and we even had chips, freshly made doughnuts, and sand baked bread! 

All the food and tents travelled with our belongings via a far more direct route than us, by camel. Camels are amazingly useful – they are truly the work horses of the desert. They also smell very, very bad.  

The most incredible thing about the desert is the sky. It is HUGE! The sunrise, the sunset, and the stars are beyond description. We had one day of absolute blue – nothing else in the sky. On another day, we started out with big white clouds that spread out across the sky and, as we walked further into the desert and day, we walked into the blue which went on forever.  

Sleeping out under the stars is astonishing – the stars are just coming at you, falling down onto your face, and there are so many of them. We woke in the morning to the dawn sky, a breeze in the air, the sun coming up behind a hill and the peaceful desert all around us. 

The power of coming together to make a difference 

I had so many brilliant, meaningful, and wonderful chats as we walked, sat, ate, and rested in the shade. We all chatted a LOT – about life, work, home, friendship, love, death, ambition, hope, challenges, and so much more.  

We laughed – the kind of belly laughing that you do as a teenager as well as uncontrollable snorting laughter (that might only have been me, actually). It didn’t matter, no one cared, we just laughed more. We all reflected on the fact that this laughter doesn’t happen often enough when you’re a grown up. 

Co-op colleagues shared their fundraising journeys, having raised over £37,500 altogether in a single year! Their dedication was astonishing, as were their stories of all the support they received from their friends, family, colleagues, and the wider community. Their efforts included camel and sumo costumes (not at the same time), head shaves, beard cuts, raffles, cake sales, prize draws and so much more – a real showcase of the power of the collective and a huge commitment to making a difference.  

Sat around in a tent after a long day trekking in the sun, my fellow travellers shared their stories about why they wanted to fundraise – of childhoods that were hard, of experiences and support they wanted for young people, of relatives who were foster carers for Barnardo’s, of a belief in Barnardo’s and our work. 

They also shared personal reasons for going on this trek – some were seeking themselves, reclaiming their sense of self after a difficult life event, or helping themselves to overcome grief; others had a desire to be brave, to do something new and step outside the norm.   

In return, my colleagues and I were honoured to talk about the impact of our work, which is only possible thanks to fundraising efforts like this.  

We shared stories of support for young people in communities across the UK, the impact our advocacy work has already had and hopes to have in the future, and our exciting focus on creating new content with and for young people.   

"It was humbling, magical, and gorgeously restorative” 

I’m in danger of cheesy corniness here but I’m diving right in… This experience really highlights what a diverse group of people can achieve with determination and collective effort in mind.  

The trek was a testament to resilience, teamwork, kindness, and generosity – not just of the team who trekked together, but of all our supporters along the way.  

It was humbling, magical, and gorgeously restorative. People are good – so very, very good.