THE West Cork Sudbury School (WCSS) is continually coming up with fun-filled and educational ways of fundraising for the school with ideas ranging from the ‘Plant a Tree Grow a School’ initiative in 2022 (which is still ongoing) to the annual Gamecon which was held recently in Bantry.
The latest fundraising initiative has been pledged by Marcin Szczerbinski, who has elected to take up the challenge of being sponsored for the school and walking some 222 kilometres of the Beara Way between June 28th and July 12th.
Marcin will carry all he needs on his back, with only a lightweight tent for shelter.
Maybe he will experience some West Cork hospitality enroute, but he won’t be using any hostels or BnB.
Marcin is a lapsed hiker. Due to work and other commitments, he goes for long hikes less often than he used to, and exploring the Beara Peninsula in this way has been a dream of his for a long time, especially having walked a stretch of the Salt Path in Cornwall many years ago.
He intends to start the Beara Way from Coomhola at the Sudbury School and encompass Sugarloaf Mountain, Hungry Hill, Bere Island, Castletownbere, going all the way to the tip of Dursey Island, and coming back through Allihies, Eyeries, Ardgroom, Kenmare, across Priests’ Leap, and back to the starting point at Coomhola.
It is timely that the Salt Path, the recently released true story detailing the long-distance walk along the South West Coast Path, in England, by Ray Winn and her husband Moth, is currently being shown at Bantry Cinemax.
Watching this, Marcin is reminded of one of his best holiday hikes ever in Cornwall, before he undertakes his new challenge.
Marcin is a native of Poland, who, after many years in England has lived in Cork since 2011 and is a psychology lecturer at UCC.
He teaches and conducts research into child development, education and special educational needs.
This research and experience has shown him that we need to radically rethink our education system and give children more control over what they learn, how they learn it, when they learn it, and with whom, as in self-directed learning.
His belief in the importance of self-directed learning and democratic education has led him to become a member of the board at WCSS.
Marcin also contributes, as one of the directors, to the work of the newly formed Democratic Education Ireland - an umbrella organisation for democratic schools in Ireland.
While this started out as a one person adventure, Marcin will be delighted if people join him enroute.
The aim is to have fun, make friends, raise money for the WCSS and spread the word about the school and self-directed education.
Visit West Cork Sudbury School at GoFundMe to contribute or contact Marcin at [email protected] for further information.
