In summer 2026, a team of Durham students are expected to be climbing Kilimanjaro as the final part of a fundraising project for Dig Deep. Founded by Jo Zeevi-Green and Peter Fitzsimmons in collaboration with Kenyan women’s rights activist, Agnes Pareyo, Dig Deep is a charity focused on providing Bomet with clean water, sanitation, and good hygiene. We spoke to Durham student Jack Pemberton, the second year chemistry and physics student who will be team leader of team Durham for the climb.
Can you give a quick rundown of what participants will actually be doing on the trip?
“The trip is only the final part of the journey that participants would be undertaking! Beginning in September (after the early bird registration period), the team will begin fundraising collectively and individually to meet everyone’s personal target of £2990. This period will extend through the year until June with big team fundraising events, 1-to-1 fundraising calls and advice from the Dig Deep team, team leader support from myself, and plenty of team socials! From then preparations for the climb begin until late August when the teams set off.”
Who can sign up, and what kind of people are you looking for?
Via Dig Deep
“We welcome everyone to the challenge and are aiming to build a strong team community in Durham to provide the best support possible. Team sizes typically range from 15-50 people, but we are always looking to sign up as many people as possible! Dig Deep offer amazing discounts on registration sign up when you refer others, so the best thing to do is grab as many friends as you can and sign up together.”
What drew you to Dig Deep and this particular challenge?
“The prospect of climbing Kilimanjaro first caught my attention, promising an incredible physical and mental challenge, whilst ticking off an item on my bucket list. However, what truly drew me to the challenge was Dig Deep’s mission; not only have Dig Deep raised over £5 million to build hundreds of water harvesting projects and deliver valuable hygiene and menstrual health education, helping to the 2/3 people in the areas they work in who don’t have access to clean water, but also the charity have designed a bespoke leadership and fundraising experience to help develop our personal story and CV-skills for future challenges and employment.”
What made you decide to take on the challenge of leading a Kilimanjaro trip?
“Aside from the contribution to Dig Deep’s phenomenal cause, I chose this challenge for two reasons: to grow an appreciation and gratitude for the things that are easy to take for granted, and for the challenge. I think that chasing a sense of imposter syndrome is an amazing indicator of growth as an individual, and so seeing this opportunity and the novel challenges accompanying it made me question if it was something that I’d be able to accomplish, so I signed up to prove to myself that I could.”
Have you done anything similar before, or is this your first big adventure like this?
“I’ve challenged myself previously in lots of different ways, whether that be sporting and physical challenge, leadership, or emotional and personal difficulties. However, leading Team Durham is a feat of a much greater magnitude and global impact, and so is an incredibly exciting new adventure.”
What kind of impact do you hope the trip will have for Dig Deep?
Via Dig Deep
“The amazing part of the Dig Deep challenge is how substantial and real your impact can be. The charity focuses on providing clean water, safe toilets, and good hygiene. These goals are accomplished through water harvesting projects, safe latrine building, and provision of education which has so far impacted over 200,000 people. Just £15 is enough to provide one person with clean water access, £50 can provide 500L of clean water storage to a school in Kenya, and £260 can help a village of 300 people have a safe toilet, just think how much of a difference your £3000 raised could make!”
What’s the one thing you want every potential sign-up to know before they commit?
“That if you feel apprehensive about the challenge you should register your interest and find out more! I’m always available to contact via the DurhamKili Instagram account. There is zero commitment to signing up to a free info session (aside from another huge discount if you decide to use it), and I will try my best to answer any questions; sign up excited, nervous, with friends or by yourself, because either way the team will be there to support you the entire way!”
If you could describe the trip in one word to get people to sign up, what would it be?
Via Dig Deep
“A Journey. Physical, emotional, mental, collaborative. A journey no-one will forget.”
If you could bring one “luxury item” to the top of the mountain, what would it be?
“Definitely my Garmin smartwatch, it’s a personal non-negotiable to secure the Strava kudos and I can’t wait to see the Kili stats!”
What’ll be your “guilty pleasure” motivation to keep the team going?
“Snacks. As long as the food is going in my spirits remain ultra-positive. I always strive to focus on the amazing aspects of life, taking each day with gratitude, fun and authenticity, that balance only gets lost when I’m hungry!”
With fundraising just beginning, every step the team takes will be for a cause that really matters. So, if you fancy swapping Klute for Kilimanjaro, the team will be waiting with open arms – and plenty of snacks.
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