Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page! I am raising money for the Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust by taking part in the Kilimanjaro Trek Challenge with a team of Cardiff University students. On top of this, I will be completing my own personal fundraising challenge in support of a specific women's rights campaign that Amnesty is currently working on: Freeing human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh.

My Challenge: Running for Nasrin

Nasrin is a human rights lawyer who has dedicated her life to defending women’s rights. She has defended many women who have staged protests against the compulsory hijab law in Iran. She is now paying the price for believing that women should be able to wear what they want; Nasrin is facing 38 years in prison and 148 lashes for her peaceful human rights work after an unfair trial at which she was not present. Not only is this sentence incredibly unjust, but Nasrin's life is also at risk as she suffers from ill health with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in prisons across Iran.

This is a campaign that lies close to my heart, and I will be showing my support for Nasrin by running about 38km a week, in order to get to a total of 148km over the month of February (see updates below!!). By donating money through this page and signing the petition below, you'd not only be supporting the work of an amazing charity (see below for some more examples!!), but also contributing to getting Nasrin released from prison: http://amn.st/free-nasrin. You can also choose to sponsor me for this challenge, instead of making a direct donation beforehand, through the following link: https://forms.gle/nm6HpFpVcSbz2rP77

The Trek

Over 9 days, my team and I will embark upon a multi-day trek to the significant altitude of 5,895m above sea-level. Kilimanjaro is not only the highest mountain in Africa, making it one of the Seven Summits, but it is also the highest free-standing mountain in the world! I will be facing sub-zero temperatures and very thin air on the route to the mountain peak, making this an extremely challenging trek. It is definitely not going to be easy, but I can't wait to get to the roof of Africa and be rewarded with breathtaking sunrises, star-filled skies and far-reaching views across the wild plains of Tanzania!

The Charity

Your donations will be contributing to the work of Amnesty International, the world's largest grassroots human rights organisation. Amnesty campaigns for justice and human rights wherever they have been denied. So what does this look like? Here are some examples of issues they're currently working on:

❤️‍🩹 Refugees: creating a fair and effective system for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the UK and abroad.

❤️‍🩹 Women's rights: fighting against discrimination and social traditions that set unequal power relations between men and women, such as giving girls and women access to basic human rights like education and healthcare.

❤️‍🩹 Climate change: helping people affected by global warming through a loss of essential human rights like the right to life, health, food, water, housing and livelihoods. This is so important, as the climate crisis deepens inequality by disproportionately affecting people already marginalised by poverty and discrimination.

Amnesty fights to tackle these issues and many more by investigating and exposing abuses, educating and mobilising the public, and helping transform societies to create a safer, more just world. They have even received the Nobel Peace Prize for their life-saving work!! Pretty awesome right? If you donate some money on this page, firstly you'd be absolutely amazing in my eyes, but secondly, you'd be helping change the lives of those who have had their rights taken away. 

For more information on their work, go to www.amnesty.org.uk/issues.

So, all in all, please dig deep! All the money donated through this page will go directly to Amnesty International, unless you decide to support JustGiving as well (this is completely optional and can be changed or deleted as you wish!). This is an amazing cause and I am so excited to complete the trek in support of it!

Thank you so much for your support!