Pupil does pull ups for Australia

3^rd Year pupil Andrew Roberts beat the mid-week slog by setting himself quite the challenge of aiming to complete 1000 pull ups in under 100 consecutive minutes.

Why, you may ask, would someone want to put themselves through such a tough test? Because while Andrew was on an epic exploration with his family through Singapore, New Zealand and Australia, he saw the toll the bush fires had taken on the Australian countryside and wildlife.

Andrew explained: ‘Australia was the second major stop of the trip after Singapore, and we arrived in mid-December when fires had spread throughout the Australian bush. We accommodated to the north of Sydney where the air was thick with smoke from fires for the majority of our stay.

‘One of the things that struck me about the extremity of the fires, was that the smoke was so thick that on some days, you couldn’t see either end of the beach we stayed on. The sheer scale on which these fires occurred at were extraordinary, and the accounts of them from locals demonstrated how devastating they were to the environment’.

On his return, Andrew felt compelled to help the relief efforts by coming up with the sponsored pull up, reasoning ‘it’s a challenge, like the challenge of changing lifestyle to help the environment’.

Andrew beat his own predicted time and completed the 1000 pull ups in 86 minutes and has so far raised £200 to ‘help recover the wildlife that has been destroyed and damaged in the fires’.

Andrew passionately gave his stance on climate change, citing the contribution it may have had on the fires.

‘I believe that global warming, which has caused these phenomena, cannot be stopped, however, it can be slowed down and therefore needs people to change lifestyle to maintain habitats and wildlife’.

‘Overall, the problem of climate change is one that’s relevant to anyone anywhere and needs to be tackled soon before it’s too late. I think what needs to be realised in society is that to reduce climate change, one person doesn’t need to donate huge sums of money to help the environment, what’s needed is for everyone to make small contributions in their daily lives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the occurrence of phenomena like the recent extreme Australian bush fires. Hence, I am very pleased that nearly £200 has been raised from one small event in aid of preserving natural habitats through the recovery of wildlife that has been damaged in the bush fires. I thank, and am extremely grateful to, every sponsor as they have helped preserve the environment’.