In June I will be off to South Africa for a second year to support the Gryphons Abroad Team from The University of Leeds, working in partnership with the Bambisanani Partnership.

Gryphons Abroad is a team of staff and students who travel to South Africa each year to deliver a life changing project which aims to raise aspirations through activity and leadership. The project is split over two weeks and includes:

The Cycle to Success project which is based at Mnyakanya High School in rural Kwa-Zulu Natal. Here we teach 20 students to ride and maintain their own school bikes. Travelling to and from school in these areas can be an issue due to the distance between home and school (up to 2 hours walk for some children) and this is a barrier to some students accessing an education. This programme teaches students a skill which can be life changing and will help them to access further support locally as well as improving their confidence. This impact is especially clear with young girls as cycling is not a skill that is traditionally taught to women in their culture.

The second week the team works with local primary schools to deliver an inspirational leadership and sports programme to students based within the Eshowe district.The impact of this week on not just teaching valuable skills to the students but also seeing their confidence improve is invaluable to their employability in this deprived area.

Leading up to our departure in June I will be completing a number of challenges and fundraising activities including:

- Harewood House 10k (February 2018)

- The Yorkshre Three Peaks Challenge (March 2018)

- Leeds Half Marathon (May 2018)

- Amsterdam full marathon (October 2018)

Any donations you make to my Just Giving page will go into the fundraising pot to support the 2018 trip. Your kind donation may even help buy a child a bike. All donations large or small are most welcome.

Thanks all :)

Find out more about Gryphons Abroad