222 km for West Cork Sudbury School

West Cork Sudbury School
Jun 6
3 min read

A sponsored walk with Marcin Szczerbinski

Sponsor Marcin here!

Walking the Beara Way

We love fun-filled and educational ways of fundraising – from the ‘Plant a Tree Grow a School’ initiative in 2022, which is still going – to GAMECON 3 weeks ago.

However, depending upon the weather, this latest fundraising initiative may not be so fun-filled for Marcin Szczerbinski!

He has elected to take up the challenge of being sponsored for the school and walking some 222 kilometres of the Beara Way between the 28th June and the 12th July. He will carry all he needs on his back, with only a lightweight tent for shelter – or maybe will experience some West Cork hospitality en route, but no hostels or BnB!

Marcin is a lapsed hiker – due to work and other commitments he goes for long hikes far less often than he used to, and exploring the Beara Peninsula like this has been his dream 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 West Cork Sudbury School and encompass Sugarloaf Mountain, Hungry Hill, Bere Island, Castletownbere, going all the way to the tip of Dursey Island, coming back through Allihies, Eyres, Ardgroom, Kenmare, across Priests’ Leap – all the way to Coomhola again.

So it is timely that the "Salt Path" - the recently released true story movie which details the long-distance walk along the South West Coast Path, in England, by Ray Winn and her husband Moth, after they lose their home - is being shown at Bantry Cinemax, from June 6th. Watching this, Marcin can be reminded of one of his best holiday hikes ever in Cornwall, before he undertakes this new challenge!

Join Marcin

While this started out as a one person adventure, Marcin will be delighted if people join him en route. The aim is to have fun, make friends, raise money for the WCSS (oh yes!) and spread the word about the School and self-directed education. Nature and hiking in the countryside features strongly in the activities of the school.

You can contact Marcin here: marcinszczerbinski@gmail.com

Marcin & West Cork Sudbury School

Marcin is a native of Poland, who, after many years in England has lived in Cork since 2011 and is a psychology lecturer at University College Cork. 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 – give children more control over what they learn, how they learn it, when they learn it, and with whom.

His belief in the importance of self-directed learning and democratic education – where children have a real say in their education - led him to become a member of the Board of Management at WCSS.

Democratic schools have existed on the margins of the mainstream educational system for over a hundred years and Marcin also contributes, as one of their Directors, to the work of the newly formed Democratic Education Ireland - an umbrella organisation for democratic schools in Ireland.

Self-directed education is the way forward and this is the core of schools like West Cork Sudbury School!

WCSS is a not-for-profit company and registered Irish Charity (CRA 20206027). Because the Republic of Ireland does not provide any funding to institutions who do not follow the set curriculum, we do not receive state funding through the Department of Education or any other state funding. That means we have to fundraise substantial amounts to ensure that democratic education remains affordable to families in West Cork and beyond.