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John Longford, Matthew Cook and Tom Harvey all work for Sunderland wealth management company Northern Spire.

As reported in the Echo in February, they will take on the four-day trek across the sands of the world’s largest hot desert to raise funds for the Dragonfly Cancer Trust, where Matthew is a board member.

The charity works with specialist cancer treatment centres, hospitals, hospices and families across the UK, providing support for young patients with terminal cancer who receive palliative treatment.

From left: Sahara trekkers Tom Harvey, John Longford and Matthew Cook.

In under 15 years, the Dragonfly Cancer Trust has been transformed from a small, family-led organisation into a national organisation working with every major children’s cancer unit in the country.

Financial advisers John and Matthew, alongside marketing executive Tom, have been training for the last few months for the trek. They fly to Marrakech in Morocco on Thursday, November 2. The group will then drive for four hours to the starting point of the trek.

The trio had set a sponsorship target of £5,000, but have already raised more than £7,000 so the target is now £10,000.

Tom, Matthew and John are part of a 30-strong team undertaking the walk, from a range of different charities and organisations.

From left: Matthew Cook, Tom Harvey and John Longford, seen here preparing for the sands of the Sahara on the sands of Roker back in February.

John said: “The organisation has been terrific and our trekking team out there will include local Berber guides and their camels and a cook. We’ll be camping under the stars in bivouacs or tents, depending on the weather.

“We’ll be following ancient caravan routes and the temperatures will be around 30 degrees.”

Matthew is also the managing director of business network The Mussel Club, which he runs with the help and support of John and Tom.

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Tom added: “Mussel Club have been very generous with their support and have also been very encouraging during our training. We’ll be walking up to 20 miles over four days, and we’ve all made sure we’ve done the right sort of training and have the right equipment.”

If you’d like to support the trio’s Sahara trek, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/northernspiresamuelphillips.

Sunderland trekking trio's £10,000 Sahara challenge