Martha Thompson’s World Challenge fundraising

Hi, my name is Martha and I’m fundraising for my trip to Eswatini in July 2025. Our team will be helping out with a community, exploring the country on several treks, and visiting the fascinating national park in Kruger. I am really looking forward to this and also hugely grateful for the opportunity. I think it will be an incredibly enriching and unique experience for me, particularly because I have never done anything like this before.

So far I have done a handful of things to raise money, such as: painting commissions for friends and family, babysitting, selling my clothes on Vinted and feeding the cats for my neighbours. I’m keen to raise as much for the fund as I can, because I understand the importance of this being something I'm working towards independently. In the next few weeks I'm organising a bake sale with a few friends who are accompanying me to Eswatini, which will hopefully be useful.

On this trip, as I said, we will be helping out with a community. I am particularly interested in this part, because I am aware of how eye opening this experience will be. I am excited to immerse myself in a completely different culture and learn more about what is currently extremely foreign to me. As well as excitement, I'm also nervous of throwing myself into something so far from what I'm used to. I chose to invest in this partly because I knew it would be a challenge of overcoming fears, and I knew it was important that I took advantage of such an incredible opportunity. I think that this nervousness is part of what will make the trip so enriching, because I will be facing these fears and growing from them.

I am also excited to take in the natural beauty of Eswatini on the 3 treks we will be embarking on. I have always loved immersing myself in the natural world around me, and it will be all the more intriguing to experience a completely different landscape, with a completely different wildlife. I look forward to coming back home with a variety of photos to share!

The safari part of this trip is also extremely exciting for me because I am certain that it will be unlike anything I've ever done. To see wild animals roam freely in their natural habitat will be unforgettable, or so people have told me! I am particularly excited for this experience, and I don’t doubt it will fulfil my expectations.

Any money that anyone could spare would be greatly appreciated and extremely gracious and kind. I don’t expect to raise the full amount needed (around £4000), but I hope that I'll be able to gather enough to help out my parents who have so kindly offered to pay the remainder of the fund.

Thank you so much for your consideration! :)