Written by Jessica Hobbis. Reviewed by Dr Phoebe Howells. 

Three Peaks, Two Causes, One OVUM Team Member! 

This June, OVUM is taking on the Three Peaks Challenge; climbing the three highest peaks in Scotland, England, and Wales (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowden) in just 24 hours. This is not a casual walk around the park, but a physical push that feels a little daunting! 

This campaign was set up by the incredible charity Fertility Action, which has organised this challenge in order to raise awareness and funds to provide better, more accessible support for people struggling with infertility. In particular, we’re raising funds to provide professional counselling services for people struggling with fertility concerns and to roll out a fertility education programme across schools and universities. If this resonates with you, the simplest thing you can do is share it. And if you would like to give directly to the two causes this climb is funding, you can do so here. Every contribution, whether that is a donation or simply passing this on to someone who needs to read it, means more to us than we can say. Thank you for being part of this.

My name is Jess, I’m the Brand & Community Manager at OVUM, and I’ll be walking on behalf of the team for these incredible causes. Working every day in the fertility space has shown me just how much people are navigating without the right information, often without even knowing what they do not know. I really feel that people deserve to understand their reproductive health before they’re sitting there wishing someone had told them earlier. So raising funds for Fertility Action, which aims to do exactly that, really feels right. We want to help Fertility Action raise as much as possible, so OVUM has committed to donating £5 for every new subscription between now and the Three Peaks climb, up to a limit. If you've been thinking about starting your journey with OVUM, now feels like a good moment! 

Why OVUM is doing this

For OVUM, this also feels like a perfect extension of everything we stand for. We were built on the belief that providing people with evidence-backed support and science was the way to improve awareness, access and ultimately outcomes. This is also why our CEO & Founder, Jenny, set up OVUM to donate 20% of our profits to fund fertility research and awareness campaigns, because she knew that the wider context matters so much. 

When we first connected with Fertility Action, through their incredible Founder, Katie Rollings, it was clear from the outset that we were aligned on the changes we wanted to make, including how fertility is spoken about, taught, funded, and regulated. But education and access to information about even the basics of reproductive health were particular areas we all felt incredibly passionate about. So when Fertility Action asked us to get involved, it was a bit of a no-brainer! 

The two causes this campaign funds sit right at the heart of what OVUM cares about. Professional counselling for those going through fertility concerns is something that we wish everyone had access to, and we recognise how emotionally difficult this time can be. Further, a fertility educational programme in schools and universities is something the system is crying out for, as we’ll explain below. If you haven’t already, we’d really recommend checking out some of the incredible work Fertility Action is doing in this space. 

The state of fertility education in schools

Infertility affects over 3.5 million people in the UK. Yet research suggests the education system is not educating young people on their own reproductive health, let alone specifically on fertility. Analyses of the UK curriculum indicate that topics such as fertility, preconception health, endometriosis, miscarriage and infertility are inconsistently covered or absent from many specifications and sex education frameworks. For example, infertility itself is not meaningfully addressed within the Department for Education’s statutory guidance.

The knowledge gaps this creates have a real impact on how we understand our own bodies well into adulthood. A large-scale study of nearly 100,000 women trying to conceive found that for those under 25, only 42.5% knew when their fertile window was. Further, a national survey of 16- to 24-year-olds conducted by the British Fertility Society and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists found significant gaps in young people's understanding of fertility and reproductive health. 

This, therefore, leaves a huge gap in understanding when people face reproductive health concerns, whether directly related to fertility or not. Providing better education at the school and university levels helps people understand what’s happening in their own bodies, empowering them to make informed decisions and know when to seek further help or support. 

A little about Katie Rollings, Founder of Fertility Action

Fertility Action is a UK charity dedicated to two things we believe sit at the heart of better fertility outcomes: professional emotional support for people undergoing treatment, and proper fertility education in schools and universities across the UK.

Fertility Action was founded by Katie Rollings, who spent several years navigating her own fertility journey. Out of that experience, and the very real feeling of being underprepared, overwhelmed, and unsupported through treatment, she built the charity that filled the gap she had been looking for. One focused on emotional support, better education, and making fertility care genuinely accessible and inclusive for everyone. It was actually on a climb up Kilimanjaro in 2024 that the idea finally took shape, which feels very full circle now that Katie is set to climb three more mountains with the charity she created! 

When we first connected with Katie, it was immediately clear that we were aligned on something that does not get talked about enough: the gap between when people start thinking about fertility and when they actually get the information they need. Working together to help fill this gap with genuinely useful, evidence-backed, and thoughtful support is something we are so proud to be a part of. We could not be more grateful to have her behind this climb and this campaign. Katie herself said the following about the partnership, “We are delighted to have Jess joining the 3 Peaks Climbing Team. Her personal passion for this subject is truly admirable, and we’re incredibly grateful to OVUM for supporting this event”. 

Key takeaways 

• OVUM is climbing the 3 peaks with Fertility Action to improve access to professional counselling and fertility education in schools. This work will truly help change lives, both by helping people understand their reproductive health and by providing emotional support for any difficulties they face. 

• Fertility Action is an incredible charity founded by Katie Rollings to create a place where no one has to navigate fertility without support or education. You can learn more about the charity and how you can get involved here. 

• If you would like to support what we are climbing for, every donation means the world to us and you can do so here. And if you know someone who needs to read this or would benefit from Fertility Action's incredible work, please share this.