Oceans Project charity founder, Sarah Weldon, talks about her forthcoming solo row around Great Britain:
Sarah Weldon is a neuropsychologist and Founding Director of Oceans Project, with over 17 years’ experience in developmental health and social care within the NHS, Social Services, and overseas. In 2001, whilst researching maternal and child health in the urban and rural slums of south India, Sarah developed a neurological condition called Guillain Barre. It took her 18 months to recover, during which time she vowed never to take her health for granted again and to start living in the present.
In 2010 Sarah moved to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia to work for the Ministry of Education and Science, on a pioneering educational reform project to bring the outside world in to young people in Georgia. Little did Sarah know that a one-off lesson to help students learn English as a foreign language would be the start of Oceans Project. As time went on, Sarah and her students followed Roz Savage’s row across the Indian Ocean, and it was this that finally gave Sarah the confidence to take a leap of faith and take on the row.
Learning to row is the first time that Sarah has done something completely new and outside of her comfort zone. In doing so, she hopes that it will encourage others to step beyond their fears. Sarah currently lives in Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire, which has one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and is home to many of the Team GB rowers, including Oceans Project Patron, Olympic Rower, and Science graduate Debbie Flood, who has been helping Sarah as she learns to row.
Sarah is attempting a 3,000 mile unassisted row around Great Britain, setting off from Henley on 28th May 2014. During the 13 week journey, she will face some of the busiest shipping lanes, fastest tides, and most unpredictable weather in the world. If successful, not only will she bag herself a Guinness World Record, but she will be raising funds for her own charity Oceans Project, and the Thai Children’s Trust. Monies raised will provide tablet computers and internet access to young people in developing countries who currently have no access to any form of education. Sarah’s passion is to provide education for young people, and she hopes that her rigorous training regime and gaining a World Record title will encourage others to go beyond their fears and push themselves out of their comfort zones to achieve more.
Sarah founded Oceans Project in 2010. The charity provides free online environmental, English as a Foreign Language, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) education to more than 17,000 disadvantaged young people in over 53 countries. Throughout the expedition Sarah will connect with students via a purpose-built online platform, sharing 3D film footage, blog posts, photographs, art work, and data collected from citizen science research on water quality, wildlife sightings, and her own physiology. Sarah is a PhD student at Roehampton University, and throughout her training and ocean row, she will collect data on ‘the effects of calorific stress on the neuro-cognitive performance of long distance ocean rowers’. Performance on tests of memory, learning, and spatial awareness are exactly the same as those used by astronauts in space, and could help to understand more about things such as road rage, and the viking beserkers who rowed around Britain’s coastline 1000 years ago.
Sarah’s boat will be on display to 200,000 visitors as part of the re-launch of the Olympic Stadium in March and April, as part of Technopop London (an exciting popup Science, Technology, and Innovation Festival aimed at 6-19 year olds). Visitors will have the chance to learn more about Oceans Project’s world-first expedition, boat design, and the engineering behind each piece of kit used in the journey.
If you would like to get your name on the boat for £1, you can support the work of Oceans Project here. Or listen to the weekly podcast here.
