Habitat for Humanity Hope Challenge 2011

We joined 170 people from around the UK to spend the first weekend in July in a field in the Peak District, living in shelters made from scavenged material and trekking 20 km in aid of Habitat for Humanity's annual Hope Challenge.

Shelters popped up from all kinds of waste material, and included a tepee made from ladders and tarpaulin; a shack featuring hundreds of free newspapers; a home constructed from cardboard boxes and a house-shaped shelter built with pallets and Astroturf. Although we were only doing it for a weekend, there are 1.6 billion people currently living in makeshift dwellings and slums so we were delighted to contribute to the grand total of £105,000 which will help 85 families escape poverty housing forever.

Michelle Ridout who captained Team St Trinity said, "Our spacious shelter amazed everyone including us. Mainly because no one could believe that it stayed up all weekend! We had a lot of fun and it’s great to spend a whole weekend doing something like this, as it gives you a chance to really think about the issues we are raising money for."

Here we are with our trusty shelter: