School in a Bag
1015. Ed Pratt
Ed Pratt, aged 22, from Somerset, has raised over £300,000 for the ‘School in a Bag’ charity after becoming the first person to circumnavigate the world on a unicycle.
The charity 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. After his three year trip, he was met at the finish line at ‘School in a Bag’ headquarters in Somerset, where he was cheered on by family, friends and fans. The funds raised will help almost 15,000 disadvantaged and vulnerable young people obtain essential school supplies.
In a personal letter to Ed, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“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.”
David Warburton, Ed’s local MP for Somerton and Frome, said:
“I’m absolutely thrilled that Ed has won the Points of Light award – and deservedly so for his tremendous fundraising achievement for the ‘School in a Bag’ charity. The Points of Light award is a fabulous recognition of those who really go above and beyond with fundraising, and I can barely imagine a more impressive effort on behalf of others than that which Ed has made. Well done to him and I congratulate him on a fantastic success!”
Luke Simon, CEO and Founder of ‘School In A Bag’ said:
“Through Ed’s incredible journey, he has spread the ‘School in a Bag’ message into more corners of the globe than we could ever have dreamed! His videos documenting his trip have been inspiring and always included the charity too, which helped lead onto many donations over the three and a half years, including a quite incredible one of over £270,000! This has meant through Ed’s fundraising, we’ve been able to fund 15,474 School Bags over 9 projects in 8 different countries – not only an incredible feat unicycle-wise, but an amazing amount of money raised too!”
Ed said:
“I’m honoured to receive this award. I’m really pleased that this will bring more awareness of ‘School in a Bag’ and the help they are providing to children all over the world. It has certainly been enjoyable to hang up my unicycle and spend time with friends and family. My days recently have been spent editing the endless hours of footage I captured on my trip, turning it into high quality documentary videos. I have also been sharing my experiences on stage and am available for booking as a speaker.”
