Ben - Motor and Allied Trades Benevolent Fund

Sahara Stars!

Karen Jakes & Martyn Rowley

Karen Jakes & Martyn Rowley

Karen Jakes & Martyn Rowley
Fundraising as part of team: ILC 2025: Sahara Desert

My Story

Karen (from Thatcham Research) & Martyn (from NBRA) are Trekking the Sahara Desert to raise £20,000 for BEN, the Automotive industry's mental health and well-being charity.

If you can, please help us to support our friends and colleagues in the Automotive industry to help them navigate through life's myriad of challenges, by donating on my page and together, we can positively impact the lives of many.

Just think about how many people's lives this can change and put them back on track.

Our story
Martyn and I will be Trekking for 5 days across the unforgiving terrains of the Sahara Dessert, miles of sand dunes, high-peaks, gorges and oases, enduring the relentless heat and pushing themselves to the limits. 

We both believe that many of our friends and colleagues in the industry have experienced far worse, facing struggles and challenges that have pushed them way beyond their comfort zones, resulting in many cases in reaching out to BEN for support. 

Karen believes that “everyone at some point in their work or personal life, faces a mental health or well-being challenge for a multitude of reasons and have referred, experienced and seen the results of people that have used the BEN Counselling and Coaching Services”. 

A cause also very close to Martyn’s heart who has a personal reason for embarking on this trek “BEN was there for me and my family during a difficult time in my life. Their unwavering support gave me strength when I needed it, and now it’s my turn to give something back to them”. 

 But not everyone knows that BEN is available to them, so we are hoping to spread the word and together we aim to raise £20,000 to support the industry, particularly at a time when we have a skills crisis and need to retain and grow our valued workforce. 

 “I am hoping that in doing this Trek we can inspire and encourage our colleagues and friends within the industry to step out of their comfort zones and make that life-changing call to help them navigate through life's myriads of challenges.  Every step will be a step closer to the target, just think about how many lives this can change and put them back on track”, says Karen 

“I’m doing this for BEN, for those who’ve faced struggles like I have, and for everyone in the motor industry who could one day need their support”, says Martyn, “Join us on our journey and together, we can make a difference!”. 

Thank you for your support! 

129%

Funded

  • Target
    £20K
  • Raised so far
    £25.7K
  • Number of donors
    123

My Story

Karen (from Thatcham Research) & Martyn (from NBRA) are Trekking the Sahara Desert to raise £20,000 for BEN, the Automotive industry's mental health and well-being charity.

If you can, please help us to support our friends and colleagues in the Automotive industry to help them navigate through life's myriad of challenges, by donating on my page and together, we can positively impact the lives of many.

Just think about how many people's lives this can change and put them back on track.

Our story
Martyn and I will be Trekking for 5 days across the unforgiving terrains of the Sahara Dessert, miles of sand dunes, high-peaks, gorges and oases, enduring the relentless heat and pushing themselves to the limits. 

We both believe that many of our friends and colleagues in the industry have experienced far worse, facing struggles and challenges that have pushed them way beyond their comfort zones, resulting in many cases in reaching out to BEN for support. 

Karen believes that “everyone at some point in their work or personal life, faces a mental health or well-being challenge for a multitude of reasons and have referred, experienced and seen the results of people that have used the BEN Counselling and Coaching Services”. 

A cause also very close to Martyn’s heart who has a personal reason for embarking on this trek “BEN was there for me and my family during a difficult time in my life. Their unwavering support gave me strength when I needed it, and now it’s my turn to give something back to them”. 

 But not everyone knows that BEN is available to them, so we are hoping to spread the word and together we aim to raise £20,000 to support the industry, particularly at a time when we have a skills crisis and need to retain and grow our valued workforce. 

 “I am hoping that in doing this Trek we can inspire and encourage our colleagues and friends within the industry to step out of their comfort zones and make that life-changing call to help them navigate through life's myriads of challenges.  Every step will be a step closer to the target, just think about how many lives this can change and put them back on track”, says Karen 

“I’m doing this for BEN, for those who’ve faced struggles like I have, and for everyone in the motor industry who could one day need their support”, says Martyn, “Join us on our journey and together, we can make a difference!”. 

Thank you for your support!