charity – Rob Mansfield: writing, telling stories and content strategy

Sahara Trek 2019: Reflections on the trip of a lifetime

Four days. 100km. One large, hot desert. 17 remarkable people.

Those are the numbers that tell just one part of the Sahara Trek I’ve just returned from, on behalf of The Brain Tumour Charity.

It’s difficult to do justice to such a once-in-a-lifetime trip in one blog post, but I’m going to try by breaking up the experience into sections…

The country

Morocco to many people is Marrakesh or Casablanca: all souks, kasbahs, bazaars and tagines. It is, of course, so much more.

All the people I met were warm and friendly, and accepting of Europeans.

The country is almost exclusively Muslim – and thus quite conservative – with Arabic and Berber the most widely-spoken languages, although I got by comfortably in French.
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The sad truth of why charities need influencers

The news of the death of Tessa Jowell on Saturday from a brain tumour was greeted by an outpouring of affection. The tributes were to a woman who – above all – was thoroughly decent, warm, friendly and principled and who had gained respect and admiration from all sides of the political spectrum.

Her career saw many notable moments, including advancing equal pay for women, the SureStart programme for children and, of course, bringing the Olympics to London in 2012.

But her lasting achievement may turn out to be what she managed to achieve in the final months of her life, influencing the government to speed up and change its course on the treatment and research into brain tumours.

As someone who works for The Brain Tumour Charity I am inevitably biassed, but we have been astonished at the speed at which things changed as a result of Tessa Jowell’s intervention into this area.

Many of the decisions that have been and are being taken by the UK Government are on things that we – as a charity – have been advocating for a considerable time.

Continue reading “The sad truth of why charities need influencers”

I’m going to trek through the Sahara in 2019

I’ve decided to do one of those mad challenges that people occasionally embark on. I’m going to be taking on a Sahara Trek next February – five days ploughing through arduous terrain in Morocco and it’s all in aid of The Brain Tumour Charity.

I promise not to bore you too much over the next year, but I will be sharing my ‘journey’, where appropriate.

I’m not exactly in great shape, so part of the challenge will be getting fit again and ready to spend hours in scorching temperatures, trudging through sand with a pack om my back.

It would be wonderful to be able to count on your support – there will be as many lows as there will be highs, I’m sure.

> And it’s dead easy to donate via my Justgiving page

Thank you!

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