Schools Triathlon Series

1322. Jim Sewell
1323. Tessa Murray

Jim and Tessa created the Schools Triathlon Series as a vehicle to promote teamwork, healthy lifestyles, and active citizenship amongst children in the UK. The event is non-competitive, encouraging children of all abilities to participate, from more than 80 schools across the country. Their fundraising has enabled ‘Restless Development’, who train and support young people to lead change, to support more than 400,000 young people in the last year alone, who are all driving Sustainable Development agenda and taking action on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

In a personal letter to Jim and Tessa, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“I know you do this with no thought of praise or reward, but allow me to offer my own recognition of how your unique initiative has inspired over 9,000 young people to raise millions of pounds, through sport, for their peers around the world.”

Tessa said:

“Jim and I have been friends since we met as volunteer teachers in Zimbabwe 30 years ago but never imagined that three decades later we would still be annoying each other and making each other laugh in equal measure. The Flight Centre Schools Triathlon was Jim’s brilliant idea but he roped me in to ‘help’. Five years later thousands of children and hundreds of schools have taken part. We’ve raised over £1 million for ‘Restless Development’, and around 60 other charities, and as a result helped hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of young people around the world solve the problems they face in their lives and communities. This award means so much to us because it recognises the contribution of volunteers. We simply wouldn’t be able to run the Triathlons without an absolute army of amazing volunteers who help us at the triathlons themselves but also throughout the year. We would like to thank them – nothing would be possible without them.”

See more about the work of ‘Restless Development’