The Orbis Challenge Series
A series of 7 day sporting adventures in the heart of Africa with a Sporting Icon. Incredible scenery, off the beaten track routes & immersive community participation. Push yourself to your limits for an incredible purpose.
#sportwithpurpose #orbischallenge
What team will you join?
Orbis Trail Challenge
Purpose: Paralympic Sports in Malawi
Alarms set for dawn, kit all laid out ready, what will the next day bring? Excitement, nervousness and an exhilarated tingle pulses through your veins as the evening briefing goes through your mind… Created by Orbis Expeditions and Dame Kelly Holmes this incredible challenge has it all- three fiercely diverse trail runs, time spent within Malawian communities, a riverboat wildlife safari and a day spent on the shores of Lake Malawi.
Orbis Cycle Challenge
Purpose: BMX & Youth Cycling
The legendary cyclist Mark Beaumont is coming to Malawi and heading our inaugural Orbis Cycle Challenge! His team of 30 riders will cycle across Southern Malawi taking in the stunning tea estates, foothills of Mulanje Mountain, Liwonde and finish on the shores of Lake Malawi. Each day has a mix of terrain from bumpy off road tracks to stretches of tarmac ideal for getting some speed legs in! You will be accompanied by members of The Malawi Cycling Federation and led by Mark.
Orbis Family Challenge
Purpose: School Computer Laboratory
Are you keen for your children to connect with the wider world and understand more about different cultures? The Orbis Family Challenge is a chance to take a different Half Term Holiday. To experience something life changing as a family, for your children to understand some of the challenges facing their generation and connect with children their age growing up in Malawi. Inspiring projects, village homestay with a local family, time spent at a local school and an overnight mountain hiking challenge
Orbis Hiking Challenge
Purpose: Mountain Conservation
Brand new for 2021 The Orbis Hiking Challenge is incredibly special! We love everything this expedition brings and the cause behind it. Your week is spent on the beautiful plateau of Mulanje Mountain walking from hut to hut, climbing four peaks including Sapitwa (3,002m). Each night you will sleep in the basic mountain huts, cooking food around the open fire and soaking up this incredible off grid experience.
Orbis Conservation Challenge
Purpose: Lake Conservation
Join Miranda Krestovnikoff and her family as they travel to Malawi for an incredible behind the scenes challenge to Lake Malawi and Liwonde National Park. From diving in the clear fresh waters of Lake Malawi with the incredible Cyclid Fish to spending time tracking wildlife at Liwonde National Park this expedition combines culture, sports and global citizenship.
Orbis Rugby Challenge
Purpose: Youth & Community Rugby
Orbis have partnered with Bhudesi Pride Foundation and you will be spending the week taking part in community outreach sports coaching near their academy base in Lilongwe. The power and impact of sport is at the heart of the organisation and you will be working alongside their local coaches to run training sessions and learning more about their work. We will whisk you off for a safari too!
Orbis Coaching Challenge
Purpose: Youth Community Sport
Seven days visiting a mix of rural and city based sports organisations. A real chance to see the diversity of Malawi and how passionate, and talented, their community teams are. Every community in Malawi plays football and netball and they are so good at it! Prepare for dusty pitches, lots of barefoot playing, hugely talented players and a fantastic competitive spirit!
“The Orbis challenge for me was the most amazing things I have ever done....the experiences, memories and friends I have made will last a life time. Seeing the different culture and way of life in Malawi was a real eye opener for me and puts a different perspective on life for sure. Truly happy people who don’t have a lot but make the most of what life has given them.”
Sport with a Purpose
Every Orbis Challenge event has a purpose at it’s heart. We want to open your eyes to the incredible organisations we are working with and hopefully also raise some much needed funds. We do not ask for a fixed donation amount but hope each team will raise around £10,000.
£20,000
In 2019 The Orbis Trail Challenge Team, headed by Dame Kelly Holmes, raised £20,000, for Open Arms Nutrition Project for under 5’s. Read more about the impact this donation has had here.
£7,500
In 2018 we raised £7,500 towards a city nutrition education programme. The money has been used to research how to get street kitchens to use sustainable stoves and produce nutritious food.
Kit Donation
In 2018/2019 The Orbis Challenge participants donated over 200 pairs of trainers to runners in Malawi. We also facilitated the donation of 300 sports bras and kit for 3 x youth football and netball teams.
Sponsored students
Orbis currently facilitates the sponsorship of 55 students at Rainbow Hope Secondary School. 25 of these students are sponsored by Orbis Challenge Team Participants.
Meet Our Ambassadors
Mark Beaumont (BEM)
Having smashed the circumnavigation cycling World Record twice in his career, Mark now holds this 18,000 mile title in a time of 78 days and 14 hours, averaging 240 miles a day. His epic documentaries have taken viewers to over 100 countries, into the Arctic, the length of Africa, the high mountains and around the Commonwealth, also surviving capsize in the mid-Atlantic.
Mark is heading up our inaugural Orbis Cycle Challenge in 2021.
Lauren Steadman
Lauren is the current World & European Champion – a title which she has won 3 and 6 times respectively. Lauren was born missing her lower right arm, however this has challenged Lauren to be the best she can be, and she relishes the chance to overcome barriers. She has competed at two Paralympic Games as a swimmer. She has since specialised in Paratriathlon & represented Team GB in the sports inaugural entry to the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016, where she took home a silver medal. She has her sights set on Tokyo 2020 where she will be aiming for the gold!
Col. Dame Kelly Holmes
In 2018 and 2019 Kelly Holmes hosted The Orbis Challenge. Kelly took a massive leap of faith and jumped feet first into being our first headliner for Sport with a Purpose. In 2018 she ran Mulanje Mountain Porters Race, mountain biked on Zomba Plateau and kayaked 20km on Lake Malawi. She had such an amazing time that she returned with a team of 30 to take on the 2019 event running three half marathons in 7 days- including another crack at Mulanje Mountain! Kelly has left an incredible legacy in Malawi including raising over £30,000 and gaining 50 friends for life who ran alongside her in the 2018 and 2019 events.
What people are saying
“My soul has been refilled with love, laughter and happiness, and that’s all by somthing you have created”
“Through this trip I have a renewed believe in myself that all things are possible and we can all make a difference no matter how small. I have made new life long friendships thanks to Orbis and I really thank you for this.”
“To sum up the Orbis Challenge, it was EPIC! One of the best weeks in my life, you see how stunning malawi is, you make friends for life and everytime I reflect on the experience I smile because I had such a great time.”
“This trip was awesome!! Well organised. Fantastic Hospitality. Hands down to the people behind it all. People were all fantastic as well. Made friends for life. Always well looked after. Would I do it again? Definitely!!!”
Colonel Dame Kelly Holmes
Our first Sport with a Purpose Ambassador and what an inspirational person. Kelly has become a firm friend of The Orbis Family and we hope to welcome her back to Malawi again very soon! Kelly also sponsors 8 students at our linked school.
“My Malawi 2019 Sport with a Purpose experience, not only met with my expectations after a wonderful 2018 trip, it added to my amazing memories. The challenge, terrain, athletes, children and hope of the people that Malawi offers, is something you will never forget.”
