Bell baxter lives section I former Pupils Contents

Nancy Kerr

Ben Kerridge

In early August 2007, Ben Kerridge, a fifth year pupil, set off with his cousin, Scott Kilbee, of Logie, a pupil at Madras College, to do an 80-mile paddle along Scotland's waterways. They hoped to raise £500 each for the Children's Hospice Association. They paddled from the Firth of Clyde along the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal, then down the River Almond to the Firth of Forth. They were repeating a trip done in the same canoe as one done by Ben's father 10 years ago. They camped overnight and had to carry with them all their food and a tent, with portage of the canoe and its contents at each of the 20 locks on the first day. Just to make it that bit more exciting, the River Almond was in flood. They had no support to make it easy!

In 2009 when he was in S6, Ben was given the opportunity to go to Johnston Space Camp in Houston, Texas. He was one of 118 Maths and Science pupils from across Scotland who attended Space Camp in the summer of that year. Of these, 38 were short-listed, and the 10 to go to NASA were finally selected after five interviews and team building activities. For 10 days in November Ben and his fellow pupils will spend time with the NASA engineers and be taken on a tour of the centre. They will attend social events in the homes of the astronauts and take part in the annual Scotland v. NASA football competition.

First Minister Alex Salmond presented the 10 Scottish pupils with a miniature book of Robert Burns' poetry the day before left for Texas. Ben was chosen to hand it over to astronaut Tony Antonelli, who will take it into space with him. During the visit Ben had the opportunity to speak to former NASA Flight Director Eugen Kranz who was involved in the efforts to save the crew of Apollo 13. Ben also visited the mission control room, paid his respects to the astronauts who lost their lives in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and experienced the feeling of weightlessness. Thepupils took on the NASA engineers in a game of football which ended in a draw.

Extracted from FPA Newsletter, December 2012:

Two FPs, Ben Kerridge and Aidan Strathearn, took part in the gruelling Mongol Rally in July. The participants undertake a 10,000 mile charity road trip from the UK to the Mongolian capital of Ulaan Baatar, crossing three mountain ranges and two deserts. Starting from Goodwood in Essex, these two were doing it in a car they described as ‘one your granny would be embarrassed by’ - namely a 1.3 litre Kia Rio. The boys, who are students at Glasgow University, were to be accompanied by a friend from Ayrshire. It is not too surprising to learn that they signed up for the trip last year during a night at the Students' Union! The trip was to take 6 weeks and the return journey was by Trans-Siberian Railway (‘chicken class’, they said). The money raised by sponsorship is for the Lotus Children's Centre Charitable Trust, and they intend to give some to St.Vincent's Hospice in Johnstone and some to the Alzheimer charity.