Four Cheltenham College and two Malvern St James students are setting out on a 100-mile canoe challenge on the River Wye at the end of June with an aim of raising £7,500 for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation funded Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia.
Zambian born William-Ross Anderson aged 15, living in Worcester is leading the party that includes James Battishill aged 15, living near Kemble, Henry Morshead aged 15, living close to Broadway and Alex de Wesselow aged 15 living in Newbury will be joined by Henrietta Hunter-Hamilton aged 15 living in Milson and Evelyn (Nev) Haynes aged 15 living in Ledbury.
“I saw the project first hand when I fundraised in 2011 and I’m really excited to build on these foundations and raise more awareness,” says William-Ross. “We raised £4,600 by doing 100 KM on the Wye and took the cheque to the elephants in Kafue National Park which built a viewing area for young Zambians to get close to the babies!”
The team will set off on Friday 28 June and canoe 100 miles from Glasbury to Chepstow, ending their journey on 2 July.
The money they raise will go towards a new library at the education centre in Zambia which reaches out to 3,200 children across 20 rural schools, its aim to educate the next generation about the importance of conservation and the protection of the elephant and the wider environment.
“Helping protect the elephants through the education of children my own age is really motivating,” adds James Battishill. “We hope to raise sufficient funds to educate the Zambian children of the benefits of the elephants to their communities.”
The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation in the UK and the Game Rangers International team in Zambia would like to wish them all the best of luck with their challenge!
• You can support the boys directly through their Justgiving fundraising page: http://www.justgiving.com/wye100canoechallenge
