Dear Friends,

Check out my journey to completing this event (well the parts I captured) on my instagram account, specifically for this purpose, under the name:

On the 15th of September I am going to cycle 55 miles/88kilometres from London to Brighton meanwhile raising funds for children who are trying to attain an education but who compete against disadvantages not of their own making and not comparatively characteristic of their peers! The 1st time I fundraised for this cause (which is close to my heart and own story) was when I ran the Hackney Half on 21st May of 2023.

Before I go any further, I want to be fully transparent in disclosing that I am doing to event and riding this distance of 55 miles; my first ever bike race event, for me! I would say for me and me alone but that would not be the truth. Engaging in a challenge, feat and task like this is not an easy prospect and has been anything but over the last two months. I have had many set back that have regularly made me feel like quitting. The whole journey of training for an event whether someone is fundraising for a cause or not gives every individual the sense of accomplishment when it is either successfully acheived or even struggled with as it recruits the resourcefulness of fortitude one may reserve. Anyone who does not express this feeling, I feel, is being disingenuous. Although maybe it is just me being selfish :)!

So yes! Taking into account lifes many setbacks, challenges and failures. This event and the resilience imbued in it is giving me a focus and sense of grit and character that was lagging this year and possibly something that I had to rediscover about myself in general.

However, I said all of that to actually say, in a round about way: all of the aforementions relates and is quite indictative of my educational journey in the primary and seconday school systems through.

I convinced and convicted that I am not alone in this and that there are many children in this very day who are having the same experience!

One of ...

NO! ...

The main thing that got me to go from not being interested enough when I was in primary and secondary school, even up until my first year of college, which I failed at to gaining a degree was

TUTORS! Extra-curriculae

outside of office hours

TUTORS! Was a major

driving factor!

In some way shape or form. For me, tutors were in the form of friends and mentors!

Disclaimer!

When I say not interested enough. I mean that in order to succeed in the education system, which may have flaws, one has to either be individually interested enough or come from a family that has an appreciation for education and its powers.

For me not only did I have to seek out, and was moreso lucky, enough to stumble across friends and mentors who put this fire learning within me, I had to lean on them and I also took note of the families they were in.

A transmution of my very laissez faire approach of - turning up to class, going home to watch t.v. and playing around doing nothing on the weekends- occured overtime. When I was blessed enough to literally walk with the right friends, that changed drastically but sometimes painfully in my pursuit of seeing the pedagogical process as precious.

Put simply, my closest friend went to the same secondary school as me, but was the last of the Mohicans, aka the year that the school was private. So...

It was not just learning maths and english that I soaked in, it was almost a paradigm shift that covered life and my outlook on it. My success in college and university were hindged on similar relationships.

Having volunteered in secondary schools and youth projects before; I have seen how hard it is for kids and teens to change their mental environment and get around others who want to succeed.

Tutors are a very well needed bridge between those who attain and those who do not! Like the essay clinics provided at B6 Sixth Form in Hackney, for example.

I am doing this for those who struggle. As one who is from an economically deprived background and still struggles with self economies. I am doing this as a tribute to those who have facilitated elucidation iat ANY point in my education and have helped to enlighten me and my way!

Follow as light is shone on this problem and solutions are shared by this wonderful provision known as Action Tutoring!

Education in this country isn't fair. Pupils from low-income backgrounds are not less able than their more affluent peers, however they often lack the resources and tools that help them to achieve. With proven impact, Action Tutoring has been supporting disadvantaged school pupils for over a decade, providing them with high-quality maths and English tuition by harnessing the power of brilliant volunteer tutors to help them succeed. Our vision is a world in which no child's life chances are limited by their socio-economic background.