Climbing Toubkal to Help Save Lives

In June 2026, I’ll be taking on one of the toughest challenges of my life, climbing Mount Toubkal, 4,167m, the highest peak in North Africa, to raise funds for Serve On and support my training as a volunteer international search and rescue responder.

Over six days, I’ll trek a demanding circular route through Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains, crossing remote valleys, sleeping in mountain huts and Berber guesthouses, and pushing through days of high altitude hiking.

The biggest challenge comes on Day 4.

In the early hours of the morning, in darkness and cold, I’ll begin the summit push to the top of Mount Toubkal, climbing to 4,167 metres in time for sunrise over the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert. Then comes the brutal descent, over 2,000 metres back down the mountain, when tired legs and determination will be tested to the limit.

This isn’t a holiday trek. It’s a real physical and mental challenge, and I’m taking it on for a cause that means a huge amount to me.

I’ve recently been selected as part of the next intake of trainees with Serve On, a volunteer international search and rescue charity that responds to disasters in the UK and around the world.

Over the next two years, I’ll be training to become a qualified deployable search and rescue volunteer, ready to respond to earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and other major emergencies.

This has been a dream of mine for a very long time.

I first joined Serve On when I was 14, helping create the Rescue Rookie branch to introduce young people to disaster response. That experience inspired me deeply, and ever since, I’ve hoped to return one day as a fully trained international responder.

Now, 10 years later, that opportunity has come.

But becoming rescue ready takes serious commitment, and serious funding.

Serve On is entirely volunteer run. We fund our own training, specialist kit, PPE, travel and equipment. The cost of staying prepared is around £3,000 per year, and as part of my training I need to raise £1,000 for the charity.

And that preparation matters.

Because disaster response starts long before deployment.

It starts in the training.

It starts in the equipment.

It starts in being ready when the call comes.

Serve On volunteers train to enter collapsed buildings after earthquakes, locate survivors trapped in voids, deploy in floodwater rescues, and respond when communities are facing their worst moments.

Imagine working inside the wreckage of a collapsed six storey building, searching for signs of life while families wait above for news of loved ones.

That is what Serve On trains for.

That is what your donation helps make possible.

Serve On teams have deployed in the UK and internationally, including assisting after the Türkiye earthquake in 2023, supporting flood response across the UK, and helping communities prepare for disasters before they strike.

By supporting this challenge, you won’t just be helping me climb a mountain.

You’ll be helping me train to help save lives.

Every donation, large or small, will help me reach my £1,000 target and move one step closer to qualifying as part of Serve On’s international search and rescue team.

Please donate if you can, and help me turn this climb into something much bigger than reaching a summit.

Thank you so much for your support.