MARK BEAUMONT
Thinking back to when he grew up on a farm near Blairgowrie, record breaking round the world cyclist and adventurer Mark Beaumont reckons he had something of a “wild man” existence during childhood.
Home schooled and “feral” until the age of 12, the former Dundee High School pupil knew how to hunt rabbits and make his own shoes out of rabbit skins.
Every morning he’d have to get up to help milk 60 goats and collect eggs from 200 hens.
While he knows now he probably took those childhood experiences for granted, he’s in no doubt that the physical and mental competences he gained from getting muddy in the great outdoors and learning how to work in teams were “utterly formative” in terms of the confidence and resilience he’s dug into later in life.
From Everest to Antarctica: Why world record breaking explorer and Scouts Scotland president Mollie Hughes wants to help young people build resilience
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Michael Alexander speaks to world record breaking explorer and recently appointed honorary president of Scouts Scotland Mollie Hughes who wants to inspire young people – especially girls – to build resilience.
If the average life expectancy in the UK is 81 years old, it means that if you are 16 you might have 65 years left on the planet. If you are 26, you might have just 55.