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Family School welcomes Dean Stott and Nadia Shah

It was a very busy week at the Family School with the visit of two VIPs.

 

First through the doors was a man preparing to pedal his way into the record books. Dean Stott is now 8 months away from beginning his mammoth challenge of cycling the entire length of the Americas from Argentina to Alaska.

Dean’s expedition will cover over 14,000miles, crossing 14 borders in 110 days. That means he will need to cycle around 130 miles a day, through deserts, jungles and over mountains, if he is to break the current world record of 117 days.

However, the former Special Forces Frogman had his endurance really put to the test when he came under rapid questioning from students at the Family School. Keeping cool under pressure he gave the students a real insight into his intense preparations leaving them with some wise words on the importance of making positive decisions in life.

Dean is hoping to raise over £1million for Heads Together with 10% going to the Anna Freud Centre.

You will be able to track his progress live online or wait for a BBC special that will document his epic journey.

You can support Dean by donating to his fundraising page here.

The second guest to the Family School had worked tirelessly over the past year to raise money for the Anna Freud Centre.

Nadia Shah has just hung up her ceremonial chain after a very successful year as mayor of Camden but took the time to pay another visit to the family school to drop off a rather large cheque.

Having designated the Anna Freud Centre her official charity, Nadia reached a total of £75,000.This makes her donation to the Anna Freud Centre the largest sum raised so far for a Camden mayor’s official charity.

Speaking at the Family School, the now Cabinet member for Employment, Skills and Youth said,

“Throughout my career I’ve always been passionate about child and adolescent mental health. Being Mayor of Camden and having Anna Freud based in Camden it only made sense to raise money for them given their really good work, their great reputation and the difference they make to families in Camden, nationally and beyond. For me they were the obvious choice.

“It was a fantastic year, it was really fun fundraising and it was taken up really positively by everyone that I spoke to. People were really excited about it. The Smart gym in particular is something so special. When I saw the children using it and the outcomes I knew it was something I wanted to promote for Anna Freud.

“Even though I’m not Mayor anymore the work will continue and that’s what I really wanted. You want to make as much of an impact in a year but the time just flies by and you don’t get to do all the things that you want to do but I will continue to promote Anna Freud and building mental health provision into our services.”