Redcar's Jessica Brown in 45-mile Sahara trek for her charity

Jessica Brown in Morocco just before she completed the 45-mile trek across the Sahara

A charity worker from Redcar has completed a 45-mile (72km) trek across the Sahara to raise funds for the charity she works for.

Jessica Brown, 33, completed the six-day trek across the north African desert between 2 and 8 November.

During the expedition Ms Brown, who is scared of heights, had to climb sand dunes that were the size of houses. "I cried every day," she said.

But she said the trip had made her a more confident person.

"It has strengthened my work ethic," she said.

Ms Brown had done little training before the trek

Ms Brown was raising money for the Link Charitable Trust in Redcar, where she runs group and solo sessions with children experiencing emotional wellbeing and mental health issues.

She had initially planned to do the trip in 2022, but failed to raise enough money to do so.

Helen Bartram, a colleague, said Ms Brown, who has so far raised more than £3,500, had chosen to trek the Sahara as she wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone as well as raising money.

Moonlight 'stunning'

She added that the only training Ms Brown had done before the trek was a few long walks along the coast.

Ms Brown took a flight to Morocco and then took a taxi to the Draa Valley to start her hike.

She said she saw beautiful sunrises and the moonlight across the desert at night was "stunning", while temperatures during the day were as high as 40C.

She was in a group of 30 people, who were all raising money for different charities.

Following the trip, Ms Brown was exhausted and quite ill, said Ms Bartram, but she was also massively proud of what she had achieved.