Members of the Endurance South Pole 100 team training in the
Cairngorms in preparation for their own trip this year.
Two Lives Poles Apart
Teenager who survived two years of extreme bullying sets off
on an extreme expedition to the South Pole
Bea Edwards was at Red Balloon - Cambridge for
18 months in 2010–11. She had been forced to
leave school, after months of being tripped up,
pushed, punched, being ostracised and humiliated
by some of her peers. No amount of parental
intervention worked. The bullying was relentless.
Bea’s health suffered to such an extent that
her body began to close down. She reached the
stage where she could hardly walk. A Christmas
shopping expedition required the use of a
wheelchair. She slept most of the day. Between
long hours of resting, she managed bouts of five
minute activity: academic study such as reading
and light exercise such as walking to the end of
the garden. She lived in a twilight world of closed
curtains, muted sounds and a complete absence of
people other than her family – she had withdrawn
from the world.
Her mother, desperate for help, contacted
Red Balloon in Cambridge, a specialist educational
provision that takes in children who have been
severely bullied and who are suffering from
associated mental health issues. The recovery
programme comprises roughly 50% academic
studies and 50% wellbeing, to help them
understand what has happened and that the
bullying was not their fault. The daily programme
Continued overleaf…
Bea is raising money for Red Balloon
to thank them for what they have
done for her – and to help others who
find themselves in similar difficulties.
To sponsor her please visit:
www.justgiving.com/beaedwards
is flexible, catering for the children’s interests
and academic ability, with the personal and
social education designed to help them learn to
understand and deal with their feelings.
“What I loved about Red Balloon was that it was
tailored to my interests. It was flexible and if I was too
tired or ill to come in, I didn’t miss out – we picked up
from where we had left off the last time. There were
comfy sofas where I could sit and read, and friendly
teachers who understood me and my condition,”
says Bea.
Bea, who’s now 17, graduated from Red Balloon
to start at a mainstream school at the beginning
of Year 9. There she continued to build her
confidence, to make academic progress, gaining
eleven GCSEs, all A* and A. She is now studying for
maths, biology and chemistry A levels, but more
importantly is making friends and starting to put
her experiences of bullying behind her.
An epic challenge to demonstrate her
personal recovery from bullying
Shackleton’s ill-fated Imperial
Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917
bedding and supplies for the two week expedition
on a sledge. Bea is raising money for Red Balloon
to thank them for what they have done for her –
and to help others who find themselves in similar
difficulties.
For further information about Bea’s amazing
story or to arrange interviews, please contact
Carrie Herbert at Red Balloon, t. 01223 353766
e. [email protected]
Endurance 100
Now she is embarking on a journey of her life –
a 100 mile hike to the South Pole. Bea, who lives
at Heydon in South Cambridgeshire, will be one of
the youngest ever to attempt such a trip. “I want to
demonstrate that I’ve recovered”, said Bea. “I’ve been
training hard – running, dragging tyres, swimming
and doing weights.” The training programme
was essential to help Bea overcome the physical
difficulties associated with her previous illness.
On 25th November, along with ten others, she
flies to Southern Chile before two further flights
to the Antarctic Peninsular and finally to their start
point, 100 miles South West of the pole. Her aim
is to complete the walk to the South Pole that
Shackleton started a hundred years ago. It’s a
distance of 100 nautical miles in temperatures
as low as -40 celsius. She’ll be pulling her tent,
A century after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s plan to
cross Antarctica was dashed on the ice, the
relatives of his party’s chief scientific officer are
planning to complete their ancestor’s unfinished
journey. The group, led by noted explorer David
Hempelman-Adams, plan to walk and ski the final
leg of Shackleton’s intended route to the South
Pole, arriving on December 15, almost 100 years
after Shackleton hoped to do so himself. The
project – Endurance 100 – has been devised to
commemorate the anniversary and to encourage
fundraising for the creation of a digital legacy that
will benefit future generations.
www.endurance100.org
To sponsor Bea, please visit:
www.justgiving.com/beaedwards
If you’d like to know more about Red Balloon Learners Centres
01223 366052 [email protected] www.redballoonlearner.org
Red Balloon Learner Centre Group is Registered Charity No. 1109606.