As a school that values endeavour, responsibility, curiosity, integrity and kindness, we are always delighted to hear about boys who go the extra mile to live out those values, whether in or out of school.
Over the summer, Vir Walia proved a shining example of just this. After hearing about the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award’s ‘Do it 4 Youth’ challenge from a family friend, Vir decided to find out more and get involved. The challenge appealed to him as the funds raised go towards transforming the prospects of young people in the aftermath of COVID-19, helping those from the most challenging backgrounds across the UK to build life-long belief in themselves through DofE.
Over the next four weeks, Vir took on four challenges, each lasting a week. Week one: Swimming 12 lengths of his local 20-metre pool every day, week two: running 2km every day, week three: washing cars and helping others with gardening, and finally, week four: cooking breakfast for his family each day.
Speaking after the challenge, Vir explained that he had achieved far more than he had anticipated: he carried on swimming after completing his challenge in the pool each day (which was great fun) to cover 1680 metres in the week and ended up running 3km instead of 2km each day – some 28km over the week! He is also thankful to his family and friends and all their encouragement and support and his local swimming pool for supporting his fundraising and promoting his challenge to their members.
And his advice to anyone thinking about giving the ‘Do it 4 Youth’ challenge a go: “Got for it! It’s easy to do and for a good cause.”
Headmaster Ian Silk, commented, “At Bedford, with encouragement, support and inspiration, our goal is for boys to develop into ‘good men’, and I am proud to say Vir’s efforts perfectly embody this. A truly impressive effort – Well done, Vir.”