Alumnus Andy Phillips Charity Bike Ride in Marrakech

St Mary’s alumnus, Andy Phillips, who studied Geography from 1975 to 1979, recently took part in the Marrakech Atlas Etape charity bike ride in aid of Education for all Morocco. He tells us about his experience. On Sunday 28th April 2013, 140 riders set off at 8am on either the 60km or 140km ride up to the top of Oakaimden, one of the highest passes in Morocco (as well as North Africa). Driving it in a car is bad enough, and from experience, cycling up in one day is some challenge. At the other end of the valley a certain 'domestique' spent a very pleasant breakfast and morning walk up the Imlil Valley entertaining Her Majesty's Ambassador to Morocco, his Excellency Clive Alderton, formerly Personal Private Secretary to Prince Charles. Clive, as he prefers to be called when on personal visits, was hugely impressed with the work of Education for All Morocco. He spoke effusively on how the work of this charity would be very close to the heart of not only his former employers, but also the King of Morocco and in particular the work of his sister (Princess Lalla Meryem) regarding children's and women’s issues. Lunch is at the start / finish line of the bike ride, and the Ambassador showed a real interest in the lives of the girls from the three boarding houses, with whom he had a private lunch. He later spoke at the prize giving ceremony about how deeply moved he was to hear that for some of these girls, they are the first in their family to go to a secondary school. Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, the ride was abandoned at 3pm at the top of Oakaimden. Mist and torrential rain set in, making the 35km decent very dangerous. Sadly three cyclists were forced to call upon the emergency back-up services (a small fleet of ambulances, that were provided at the request of the Prime Minister’s office - never before, we suspect, have so many VIPs shown such an interest in a bike ride for 140 riders). They were safely delivered to the finish line, and from there delivered back to the warmth of their riads. Later that evening at the gala dinner at the Four Seasons hotel, all three cyclists spoke glowingly not only about the challenge of the ride but also about the phenomenal quality of the back-up and support - relief all round. Halfords, who had sent a team of senior executives, riders and press out to cover the ride were equally as enthused and are very keen to have an on-going involvement with both the ride as well as the charity. Andy is the founding director of AP Associates, responsible for developing and growing the training and consultancy services to schools. He has extensive teaching and leadership experience from working in both primary and secondary schools. He has undertaken consultancy work for the British Council, running their Headteacher Leadership Development Programme for Estonia, Croatia and Kuwait. He also undertakes consultancies and training in international schools in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam. He works mainly as a school improvement partner (SIP) to both primary and secondary headteachers (both in England and overseas), working on all aspects of teaching, learning and assessment, as well as leadership development programmes. Andy is also a qualified Ofsted inspector and leads the inspection of primary and secondary schools.