On Thursday 12th February a selection of Friesland scholars gathered at the West Park Leisure Centre to raise money for their planned expedition trip.
In July 2026, 12 students will be heading to Morocco. Once there, the scholars will be partnering with Venture Force, an expedition service who specialise in providing life-changing experiences for students. Upon arrival, students will travel to the Atlas Mountains, where they will work with members of a local village, completing manual labour, experiencing school life as well as learning about the religious customs of the country.
The idea to cycle the equivalent distance between the United Kingdom and Morocco on stationary bikes came from a group discussion about how to raise a wider public awareness of the trip.
In between cycling sessions scholars also organized a litter pick, as students felt that it was important to show care towards local communities as well as international.
Speaking on the day Tom Tuckwood from Venture Force said:
‘We will be leading a team of 12 students from Friesland school on a development expedition to Morocco in July 2026. As a means of heightening awareness of their expedition and raising funds the team are spending 6 hours today on wattbike’s cycling towards Marrakesh from Sandiacre. They are one of the most enthusiastic teams I have worked with so far. I’m very much looking forward to leading this team’.
Friesland School Teacher Amy Higgs added:
‘The team today have worked really hard both with cycling and clearing all the litter from West Park Leisure Centre car park. Our scholars today have demonstrated Friesland’s values of Ambition, Teamwork, Honesty and Respect’.
After 6 hours of cycling students managed a total of 275 miles, a little behind the distance to Morocco, however a total of three full rubbish bags were collected and students managed to raise a total of £70 which will go towards a stationary fund to help provide the schools visited by the team with new stationary and equipment vital to helping students learn.
Well done to all students that attended today’s events. Your commitment to both helping your local communities and ambition to help communities overseas is an inspiration to students across The Two Counties Trust.
