A Penrith college student is set for a month of early starts as he prepares to walk the 10 miles to school each day in May in support of a charity working with primary schools in Kenya.
Isaac Pullan, an 18-year-old year 12 student at Ullswater Community College in Penrith, settled upon the ambitious challenge during a rare walk to school one morning in March when he realised that many young children across the world have to cover the same distance every day just to get an education.
“I was inspired to walk to school that morning by wanting to maintain a healthy lifestyle,” he said.
“Some way into the journey it dawned on me that a lot of young children around the globe have to walk a similar distance to attend school and I wondered what kind of education they were walking for, what state for learning walking 10 miles each day leaves a child in, and what other factors these children have to deal with to obtain an education.”
Further research led Isaac, who lives in Kirkoswald, to the charity African Promise which works with primary schools in rural Kenya to make the walk to school that so many children face a worthwhile one by improving facilities, providing access to clean water and a lunchtime meal and ensuring schools are equipped with sufficient desks, educational materials, and teachers.
Isaac was inspired by what he read about the charity and the efforts that the children it supports make each day to attend school and got in touch with the charity, whose director and founder, Charles Coldman, said: “It’s not often that you hear of school students voluntarily walking to school, let alone doing it for a whole month.
“Isaac is clearly an exceptional young man and we are delighted that he has chosen African Promise, our partner schools and their pupils to benefit from his efforts.
“We hope that others will get behind him and support him every step of the way.”
Speaking about his upcoming challenge, which will see him walk for about three hours each morning and cover about 200 miles during the course of the month.
“I am walking 10 miles to school each day in May because others have no choice but to do the same,” commented Isaac.
“I will be getting up at 4am and aiming to leave home by 5am in order to get to school on time. I am excited for the journeys ahead and even more excited to be able to contribute to such a remarkable charity.”
Isaac is aiming to raise at least £500 from his challenge but hopes to raise much more than this with the support of his family and friends, his school and the wider Penrith community.
To contribute to Isaac’s fundraising efforts with a donation visit his fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/isaac-pullan
