Students take on Machu Picchu and Everest for charity
Two climbs will raise money for Amnesty International and Teenage Cancer Trust
Oxford Brookes University students will climb to Machu Picchu and Everest Base Camp next summer.
Student organisers are partnering with Choose a Challenge, an organisation which works with students, universities, and charities to offer a series of charity fundraising challenges each year.
Jemima Honeyborne, 20, and Ludovica Cannizzo, 22, are the Machu Picchu Challenge Leaders. In August they will take a group to Peru to raise money for Amnesty International.
They will take the Salkantay Trek, a popular alternative to the Inca Trail. A six day trek, it is considered more physically challenging than the Inca Trail, reaching a higher altitude of 4,630 metres. The group will climb between 12-22km each day.
Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is facing criticism about overcrowding and mismanagement. The Peruvian government currently limits admissions to 4,500 daily visitors, or 5,600 during peak season, and permits must be booked well in advance during busier months.
Earlier this year, the New 7 Wonders of the World organisation said that Machu Picchu could be removed from the list over concerns about tourism mismanagement.
Peru is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in Latin America, where 49% growth in inbound leisure travel spend is forecast between 2025 and 2030 (WTM Global Travel Report, 2025).
Jemima and Ludovica are both frequent travellers and have previously travelled solo. About solo travel, Ludovica said: “If you pick the right country… if you feel ready for it, it’s the best experience.”
Jemima added: “It’s very freeing”.
The organisers of the Everest Base Camp trek, Tom Coward, 19, and Willow Christie, 19, will embark on a seven day hike to the South Base Camp in Nepal.
The South Base Camp is situated at a height of 5,364 metres. Before the climb, students will spend time in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, which the organisers say will be a highlight of the trip.
The Everest trek, taking place in September, will raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. As part of their fundraising efforts the group will also complete the 3 Peaks Challenge.
Both the destination and charity is determined by Choose a Challenge, and students then choose the challenge which most appeals to them.
Challenge Leaders, Tom and Willow, said that both the physical demands of the climb and achieving the fundraising target would be impressive to future employers. Tom, who took part in a similar trek to Ciudad Perdida, or the “Lost City”, in Colombia last year, said: “A lot of teamwork and communication is involved”.
30,000 to 40,000 people climb to Everest Base Camp every year. In August, Nepal opened up 97 other mountains to climbers, offering free permits to encourage climbers to consider other peaks and to alleviate pressures on Everest caused by overcrowding.
Local guides, and porters who carry tourists’ baggage and equipment, are employed by tour operators to accompany tourists on such climbs. At Machu Picchu in September, protests relating to tourist infrastructure left 900 tourists stranded.
From the Choose a Challenge website: “All of the guides, porters and support staff that represent Choose a Challenge are paid a fair wage, and we operate with strict limits on how much weight they are each permitted to carry”.
Both groups are still accepting sign-ups from students. The next information meetings will take place at the end of the month:
Everest Base Camp: Thursday 27th November, 6-8pm. Location: to be confirmed via Instagram (@everestforbrookes)
Machu Picchu: Thursday 27th November, 6-7pm. Location: to be confirmed via Instagram (@brookesmachupicchu2026)