If you visited Bedford School during ‘Movember’ you could not have missed the boys’ ‘Around the World in Eighty Days Challenge’ in the main foyer.
The brainchild of Harry Hine, Remove Form, this challenge was an integral part of this year’s Movember campaign. Keen to support the men’s health charity, Harry initially approached the Head Master with a dinner party idea but was challenged to come up with an idea with no upfront costs that all boys could get involved with. Remembering a previous challenge, where boys and staff aimed to cycle from Bedford to Boston, he came up with the idea of using the ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ story as the theme. This time, miles could be clocked up using any activity, providing these were carried out outside of normal PE and Games lessons. It proved an idea that was highly popular and well-supported – indeed 55 percent of boarders and day boys as well as staff supported the challenge. Harry himself ran every Tuesday and Thursday with the running group to help clock up the miles.
Impressively, the boys and staff pulled out all the stops to reach the 24,901-mile target on the last day of Movember. The initiative also caught the eye of Bedford’s new news desk, Bedford Independent, who came into school to interview Harry and report on the Movember campaign. You can read their report here.
Unfazed by the challenge, Harry is keen to get involved again in the Sixth Form but plans to take a lower profile next year when he sits his GCSEs.