A desert trek for young people in need Peter Anderson during a training session at Mount Coot-tha as he and others prepare for the Youngcare Simpson Desert Challenge. Photo: Harrison Saragossi It was wet. It was not long after dawn. Mosquitoes swarmed around sweaty bodies. It was only going to get worse. So why were they smiling? "His name was Bill," a woman named Meg says. She has just spent the last hour punishing her body with a gruelling training regime. In little over six weeks time she would be sleeping with rats and snakes in the middle of an African desert. He was barrister. His mind was so sharp," she says. He'd always win Trivial Pursuit. But he'd had a skiing accident - basically his body wasn't working anymore. He was sitting in this nursing home with a group of 85-year-olds. He would have been about 38. I just remember thinking at that point, why is he here? He should be somewhere else. For Bill, and for people like him, Meg Ockleshaw will abandon the comfort of her corporate lifestyle in Brisbane, strap a heavy pack to her back, and trek 300 kilometres through the heart of the Simpson. It will take her eight days. However, it will be worth it, because by embarking on the mission Meg and a handful of other intrepid philanthropists will raise funds and awareness for Youngcare, a charity devoted to helping people like Bill find housing that reflects their youth, and not Australia's shocking lack of age-appropriate care facilities. "I have every freedom in my life - I can do whatever I want," she says. And I just think, if I was stuck in a nursing home and I couldn't do what I wanted - I could go to the toilet, or have a coffee with a friend, or anything like that... it would be heartbreaking. It's just really sad. Now in its third year, the Simpson Desert Challenge aims to raise $700,000 to build housing for youths in need, including the 7500 young people across the country currently living in nursing homes. By sending fundraisers off on the arduous and challenging dune walk, organisers hope to provide an insight into the isolation, and mental, physical and emotional isolation their beneficiaries experience daily. "I've got three kids, and three grandchildren, and any one of those really could end up needing full-time care and have to go into aged care because of it - and I'm not OK with that," says Peter Anderson, an architect from Brisbane who'll join Meg in the desert. People think I'm crazy - they ask why I'd put myself through this, especially when you consider one of the aims is also to raise $35,000 which is challenging in itself. But at the end, I'll just have a much deeper appreciation of what these young people experience - what they're going through, what any of us could go through, really. The Youngcare Simpson Desert Challenge returns 9 -19 May 2013. You can make donations via the website.