Jo Laight (HOPE CEO) and Andy Stobbart (HOPE Trustee) signed up with Alexander Adventures and BNI to complete a trek to Everest Base Camp, in March 2024. The idea for Jo and Andy was to raise much needed funds, but also awareness of the work undertaken by HOPE for our disadvantaged community.
Setting off from Newcastle airport in the rain at lunchtime on 22 March, they finally arrived in 28 degrees heat at Kathmandu at 3pm local time, on 23 March.
The Team of 20 intrepid explorers, flew to the ‘World’s Most Dangerous Airport’ (look it up – it’s true) Lukla, in a twin engine Otter. They set off the same afternoon, climbing, trekking, closing their eyes and going over ridiculously high suspension bridges, seeing hawks, eagles, yaks, donkeys and horses.
The next week took them through forests, past landslides, up more steps than they thought their legs could cope with, over rough terrain, climbing rocks, trekking dangerously close to extremely high mountainside edges.
They climbed, climbed and climbed, seeing the most beautiful landscapes, mountains and memorials.
They continued to trek through a vast range of weather and temperatures, leaving Kathmandu at PLUS 28 degrees, from Lukla to Phakding, Phakding to Monjo, on to Namche Bizaar, next to Thyanboche, on to Pangboche, up further to Dingboche. Past the majestic Amadablam Mountain, through wind, sunshine and snow, from Lobuche to reach their last overnight stop at Gorakshep, where the temperature dropped to MINUS 30 degrees.
The journey was amazing, incredibly tough, but overwhelmingly satisfying when they reached Everest Base Camp, on Easter Sunday.
Between them, Jo and Andy raised a staggering £5470 for HOPE.
Their trip was sponsored by Key Legal Conveyancing and Insangel, along with a HUGE number of supporters, family members, friends and colleagues; some who ran their own fundraisers, others who used our Just Giving page to support them.
A HUGE HOPE thank you to everybody that contributed to the success of that trip.
