I am a year 12 student in St Leonard’s School, Co Durham, who has recently been accepted onto the expedition Operation Wallacea, which on this occasion will send 18 students to Tanzania and Malawi in South Africa during June 2018. Operation Wallacea (OpWall) is a conservation research organisation that is funded by, and relies on, teams of student volunteers who join expeditions for the opportunity to work on real-world research programs alongside academic researchers.

The OpWall trust is a charitable organisation (No. 1078362) which enables a selection of participants to contribute to conservation management programmes which are designed to sustain and improve the biodiversity in the developing world. An additional objective of the programme is to develop financial benefits to local communities as a result of protecting the studied areas. The trip focuses around lake malawi, which is a crucial source of food for the developing community. Our research will judge whether the resource is being utilized as efficiently as possible and therefore enable us to advise and help the locals living in poverty. This research includes getting into lake malawi in order to make accurate representations of the number/type of fish in the lake, and concentrate on sustaining the biodiversity.

I am extremely grateful of any donations provided as obviously such a rare and extensive programme does not come cheaply. Your money, collectively, will be directly benefiting one of the poorest countries in the world. I believe that by actually going into the community and working on projects on and off the shores of lake malawi, I will be changing the lives of thousands.

As part of my fundraising, i will be taking part in the three yorkshire peaks challenge 22nd October 2017, which consists of 23.5 miles and climbing a total of 5,200ft. Throughout the duration of the challenege i will be keeping this page updated, so I would also greatly appreciate any sponsorships for the completion of the walk.

If you have any questions about how your money will benefit, please feel free to email me.Thank you.