Trekking 100km across the Sahara Desert, facing tough terrain and even tougher conditions, is an amazing achievement – and for Kelly McHugh, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The mum-of-two, who’s Community Safety Advisor Team Leader for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, completed the trek in just five days earlier this year, raising more than £5,000 for us in the process.
Now she wants to encourage others who are looking for a new challenge – and some time away just for them – to take part too.
“I’d just been through a really tough time in my life, I went through a divorce and everything, so I just thought it would give me something to focus on, it was something for me,” says Kelly, 40.
“It was the best thing I could have done.
“It wasn’t as physically demanding as I’d feared but it was very mentally challenging over the five days.
“We had a lot of sand storms while I was there, they were huge. It was like glass and stone – one day we walked five hours and you just had to keep your head down and keep going.
“At one point I did think, ‘what the hell am I doing?’ but it soon left my mind – you think how far you’ve come, the sun comes out and reminds you how beautiful it is there, and you know you’re there for such a worthy cause.”
Kelly chose to support us with the fundraiser having seen how we’ve helped some of her colleagues.
She was also in touch with another beneficiary, Northern Ireland firefighter Chris Morrison, who had completed a similar trek across the Sahara in 2019, also in aid of us.
Chris now lives with a colostomy bag, having had major surgery on his bowel. He wanted to prove it wouldn’t hold him back from completing a huge challenge like the Sahara.
You can read about Chris’ experience here.
“You see and hear about the support from this charity, so to know you’ve raised money that will directly support your colleagues and friends is amazing,” adds Kelly.
“When we’re looking into incidents that have happened, and following up on those, you think about the firefighters that have gone out and helped – further down the line, this charity is there for all of us, for years to come.
“It honestly was an experience – I would 100% advise people to do it, you learn so much about yourself.”
Kelly was supported by EG Group for her trek, which made us its Charity of Choice for the start of 2022 – supporting us across all its sites and through staff engagement events over four months.
If you want to find out more about completing the Sahara trek too, or to sign up for 2023, click below: