Andrew Fairbairn –  Andrew an ex Banbury School pupil will be coming into our BBC News School Report studio today to chat to us about the Fairbairn Challenge. 

Students interview Andrew about his reasons for is undertaking his challenge.

From the Isles of Scilly to Shetland to raise £25,000 to give disabled children in Uganda the chance to go to primary school

On 1 June 2009 Andrew Fairbairn from Banbury in Oxfordshire will begin The Fairbairn Challenge. An 1180 mile journey to kayak, cycle and walk from the southernmost point in the British Isles, to the northernmost point. Andrew devised The Fairbairn Challenge to raise £25,000 for charity.

The Fairbairn Challenge is a 204 mile extension of the traditional Lands End to John O’Groats route. Andrew will take 27 days to journey from Bishop Rock on the Isles of Scilly in the South West, to the lighthouse at Muckle Flugga in Shetland; set on the most northerly rock in the British Isles.

If you wish to sponsor Andrew donations can be made to www.justgiving.com/andrewfairbairn

Andrew Fairbairn
On the 1st of June 2009, Andrew Fairbairn, the Banbury-born man is going to kayak, cycle and walk from the Isles of Scilly to the Shetlands for charity for ‘Leonard Cheshire Disability’ and hopes to raise £25,000 for new school buildings for African children for the charity, ‘School for All in Africa.”

He is doing this as he found out that 90% of disabled children in Africa do not go to school. He has taken part in many charity events before and one of them was to absail down a multi-story building 96 times which calculates to the height of Mount Everest! That was also to sponsor Leonard Cheshire Disability.

Andrew will be setting off from the Isles of Scilly in the south-west to kayak the 27 miles to Land’s End. After a two day break on the 4th June he will get on his bike and cycle for 250 miles from Land’s End to arrive in his home town Banbury on the 7th June. He will then stop off at Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Agnes Court on the Warwick Road. Andrew will complete the final leg of his challenge on the 27th June, cycling and kayaking for 75 miles from Stunburgh to Muckle Flugga Lighthouse in the Shetlands.

By George and Reece, Year 9, aged 13.

Banbury man set for The Fairbairn Challenge to go ‘To the Ends and beyond’ to raise money for Rotary and Leonard Cheshire Disability.
Rotarian Andrew Fairbairn is someone who comes up with a fundraising idea and runs with it. Or in the case of The Fairbairn Challenge kayaks, cycles and walks for 1,180 miles over 25 days with it!

On 1 June 2009 Andrew will begin his intrepid adventure from one end of the country to the other and beyond when he will set off from the Scilly Isles in the South West to kayak the 27 miles to Lands End.

After a 2 day break on 4 June he will get on his bike and cycle for 250 miles from Lands End to arrive in his home town of Banbury on 7 June, where he will stop off at Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Agnes Court at Warwick Road. Andrew will complete the final leg of his Challenge on 27 June, cycling and kayaking for 75 miles from Sumburgh to Muckle Flugga Lighthouse in the Shetlands.

Andrew, a member Rotary Club of Banbury, came up with The Fairbairn Challenge to attempt to raise money for ‘School for All in Africa’, an inclusive education programmed. It will give 1,000 disabled children the chance to go to primary school in the Mukono and Baduka districts of South East Uganda. School for All in Africa is run in partnership by charity Leonard Cheshire Disability and Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.

Andrew said: “I was shocked to learn that over 90% of disabled children in Africa do not go to school and I hope to raise £25,000 for School for All in Africa by undertaking the Challenge. I believe it remains our collective responsibility and obligation to make the world’s children our priority and to find our own individual ways to contribute to their future. It is a notion that is supported wholly by Rotary and by Leonard Cheshire Disability.

“I am training on a regular basis as I will cycle for 85 miles on an average cycling day during the Challenge. On a day when I will kayak I will cover around 27 miles and the longest I will walk will be 105 miles over five days that will take me across part of the Pennine Way. 
“To avoid incurring expenses I will stay with Rotarians in the areas I pass through, something that fits very much with Rotary’s ethos of fellowship. I hope that people from the Rotary Clubs and from Leonard Cheshire Disability in the areas I pass through will come and join me for part of the journey.

“It will be a physically and mentally demanding journey but I relish the prospect of getting on with the Challenge and meeting my fellow Rotarians and people from Leonard Cheshire Disability as I travel the country. The route takes in many areas of outstanding natural beauty and one particular highlight will be the sense of history kayaking along Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 23 June.”

There are a number of reasons disabled children in Africa are not in school. Disability in Africa is often a taboo subject and children may be hidden away by their families who have little or no understanding of disability. There is a limited understanding of disability issues that has led to negative attitudes towards children with disabilities in both the schools and their wider communities. People working on School for All in Africa will work to address these issues.
Robin Haslam, National Community Fundraising Development Manager at Leonard Cheshire Disability, said: “We would like to thank Andrew for conceiving and undertaking this engaging Challenge to raise money for School for All in Africa.

“The work of School for All in Africa is vital as it is widely recognized that access to education in developing countries is key to beating poverty. A continued exclusion from educational opportunities means that disabled children can become trapped in a cycle of poverty that they are powerless to escape.”