Award for Ed
The Prime Minister may be giving her main speech to the Conservative Conference today, but it was not the only thing on her agenda. She has also taken time to recognise the achievement of Curry Rivel’s Ed Pratt by giving him a “Points of Light” award. These awards are granted to recognise outstanding volunteers who are making a change in their community and inspiring others.
Ed who raised over £300,000 for the ‘School in a Bag’ charity after becoming the first person to circumnavigate the world on a unicycle will be the 1015th winner of the Points of Light award.
Ed completed his record-breaking fundraising challenge in aid of ‘School In A Bag’ raising over £300,000 for the charity which delivers delivers rucksacks filled with stationery and learning resources to disadvantaged children across the world. His journey started in March 2015 and involved unicycling through Europe, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan before travelling across China and through South East Asia to Singapore. He then took on Australia, New Zealand, and the United States before flying to Edinburgh to complete the final 500 miles home to Somerset.
It took him 3 years in all and represents a phenomenal feat of determination and perseverance.
In a personal letter to Ed, Prime Minister Theresa May told him “Your dedication to fundraising in support of School In A Bag’s important work is remarkable. As a result of your record-breaking unicyle trip around the world, thousands of vulnerable young people will be able to access essential school supplies and educational equipment.”
Among the things made possible by Eds fundraising for School in a Bag are:
4,833 SchoolBags to Bidi Bidi refugee camp, northern Uganda through our partners, East African Playgrounds and being distributed by Care International
50 SchoolBags to northern Romania through our partners, Te Aud Romania. These SchoolBags were pack by Ed when he was at Unicycle.com in Teesside in July
1,600 SchoolBags to eastern India through our partners, Rural Development Welfare Society
1,000 SchoolBags to eastern India through our partners, Mercy & Grace
430 SchoolBags to Cambodia through our partners, EduKid
1,511 SchoolBags to southern Tanzania through our partners, Iringa Rural Development Initiative
700 SchoolBags to south east Sri Lanka through our partners, YALA Fund
1,200 SchoolBags to southern Ghana through our partners, Tzedek, DESO and Trashy Bags
4,650 SchoolBags to Nepal through our partners, Helambu Education and Livelihood Partnership (HELP)