I’m taking on the highest mountain in North Africa (4,167m) this December, raising money to repair and re-equip local Moroccan Primary schools still suffering the effects of earthquake damage.
I have long had a love of hillwalking and climbing, but have never attempted any significant peaks outside the rainy British Isles, let alone above 4,000m so the High Atlas will be a new and exciting challenge! Being able to combine this with my lifelong support for schools and outdoors education for young people is a deep privilege.
Morocco was severely affected by a powerful earthquake in 2023, with the rural regions of the mountains particularly badly affected; many schools and villages suffered serious damage and loss of life and carrying further risk to the long-term impact on children’s education and health. My chosen project is for the Eve Branson Foundation, to support the Imi Oughlad primary school, a rural school found in the Imlil Valley of the High Atlas Mountains. The school was close to the epicentre of the earthquake, and was badly damaged. Reconstruction is now underway, and the aim of the project is to make sure classrooms are well-equipped with new furniture and educational materials so that face to face learning can be reinstated as soon as the rebuild is complete.
Mount Toubkal is a challenge I have wanted to take on since I first visited Morocco and saw the beauty of the Atlas Mountains; and the trip is entirely self-funded which means that 100% of every donation will go directly to support the project.
Please help me reach my goal!
