Faith in Families CEO and team to undertake challenging fundraising trek

The challenge will be undertaken by Faith in Families CEO Cherrie Bija and a team of 15 supporters, including her son Ellis Taylor, and members of the business community across Wales.

The aim is to raise at least £30,000 for the charity which will go to directly funding a Children’s Engagement worker to support children experiencing trauma and crisis and to alleviate being on a waiting list for such crucial support.

The Wadi Rum 100km trek involves some challenging ascents and descents, taking in wilderness and desert scenery and scaling Jordan’s highest mountain, Umm ad Dami (1854m), which lies directly on the Saudi Arabian border. Setting off on October 28, the team will trek for five days, camping en route – often in wild locations.

Also known as the Desert of the Moon, the location is a spectacular granite sandstone valley in Jordan made famous by the film Lawrence of Arabia.

“We’re both excited and full of trepidation,” said Bija.

“This will be a once-in-a-lifetime trip and we’ve been told the views from the top of Umm ad Dami towards the Gulf of Aqaba are incredible.

“We’ve all been training hard and have tried to gain as much sponsorship as possible, with every member paying for the trip themselves, to ensure every penny donated will directly make a difference.”

The money raised will support Faith in Families’ work to support children through their Brighter Futures project and help families living in poverty.

The charity delivers support through six cornerstone projects: Bonymaen Community Cwtch, Clase Community Cwtch and Teilo’s Community Cwtch, all of which provide a parent and toddler group a lunch club, a breakfast club, after school and summer holiday activities, community events and training courses.

In the past year the charity delivered over 1404 children’s play and support activities which had over 16,344 attendances. They delivered 10,650 hours of bespoke 1-2-1 intensive support to 839 children across 43 schools in Swansea for free, to ensure everyone could access, and facilitated 211 peer group sessions in primary and secondary schools to raise the awareness of mental health.

They worked with 178 parents, providing essential skills and back-to-work support, and to help with this they delivered 37,550 hours of affordable childcare.

Swansea has 70,700 children and young people out of an approximate population of 237,800 people. As of 2022, 34% of children in Wales were living in poverty.

“This could mean hungry, cold, anxious, angry and without the resources to thrive,” continued Bija.

“That is approximately 24,038 children across our city. As a practitioner working in these communities for over 25 years, I believe this to be underestimated.”

According to the Food Foundation, food insecurity has increased by around 50%  with one in four households, affecting an estimated 4 million children and young people.

Educational impacts are anticipated – according to the Sutton Trust, 67% of state teachers believe that the cost-of-living crisis will increase the attainment gap at their school.

“All this really affects the children in our communities, with increased prevalence of mental health issues,” Bija added.

“There is rising concern about anxiety and depression – and according to The Mental Health Foundation, 75% of children and young people who experience a mental health issue aren’t getting the help they need.

“Therefore Faith in Families has a ‘triple whammy’ – demand being higher than ever before; running costs going up; and fundraising becoming more difficult – which is why challenges like this are so important and sponsorship really makes a difference.

“With the cost-of-living crisis showing no sign of abating, families in Swansea are in dire need.

“We work hard to provide support across a range of initiatives addressing everything from mental health to food poverty but in truth we can never do enough and we urgently ways need more funds so that we can help support families in Swansea.

“I’m very grateful to our partners who give us ongoing support – some of whom are joining us on this challenging trek. I’d like to give my heartfelt thanks to them, the people who are sponsoring them, and everyone else who supports us.”

If you would like to donate, please visit:  https://localgiving.org/fundraising/FiFWadiRum2023Challenge/

[Lead image: Faith in Families]