During October, I noticed an event that was taking place at the Royal Geographical Society in London called 'One Wild Night;' it was organised by Steve Backshall and Helen Glover, while Monty Halls was going to be presenting it. Together, they were going to be delivering a series of presentations along with numerous other celebrities and athletes, and all money received on the day for tickets and donations would help the World Land Trust save 8154 acres of rainforest in Belize, home to Jaguar, Tapir, Harpy Eagle etc.
About a week before the 14th my dad said he'd got tickets for my whole family and so we drove up to London, reaching our seats at around 18:40. Steve started the speeches introducing Monty Halls at approximately 7pm, where the presentations began.
Between 7pm and 10pm, we heard about 10 presentations all of which were fascinating and inspirational. In brief here they are:
Steve Backshall (naturalist and athlete and, like many with similar interests to me, a childhood hero)
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| Steve Backshall speaking briefly |
Monty Halls (naturalist, broadcaster, travel writer and marine biologist that was the 'compere' for the evening, starting with a talk about the importance of conservation)
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| Monty Halls |
Dr George McGavin (zoologist with a particular interest in insects, that brought the audiences attention on not just the bigger animals but the millions of smaller ones)
Will Greenwood (2003 rugby world cup winner - hilarious to listen to, but his closing line was brilliant in addressing younger people with the following; 'Little things matter. If we all do the little things right, we can change the world for the better.'
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| Will Greenwood and Monty Halls |
Leo Houlding (rock climber and adventurer that travelled to Antarctica and climbed an immense peak called the Ulvetenna with some friends. It looked incredible, though the South Polar Skua that he saw really caught my eye...)
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| Leo Houlding |
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| Leo Houlding |
Sophie Raworth (journalist and broadcaster, who ran the 251km Marathon Des Sables, with a group of friends.)
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| Sophie Raworth |
Then, a short interval where a speaker selfie took place.
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| Selfie |
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| Picture of the Selfie from the cameraman |
Lowri Morgan (presenter and marathon runner, who ran a 350mile marathon across a number of different places; she completed the marathon with fractured feet after a time, which sounded crazy. )
Sean Conway (adventurer, author and even athlete who chased records by following the 3 F's - achieving a world record of the fastest, the first and the furthest in his cycling, swimming and running.)
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| Sean Conway |
Simon Watt (biologist and writer that spoke about why conservation matters as much as anything else like politics.)
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| Simon Watt |
Helen Glover w Heather Stanning and Dame Katherine Grainger (3 Olympian rowers, who spoke about their experiences in the Olympics together.)
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| Helen Glover, Heather Stanning, Katherine Grainger |
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| Helen Glover and Heather Stanning |
Steve Backshall (due to the event running significantly over time, he didn't get time to do a speech properly.)
All the speeches were fascinating, but from a personal point of view my favourites were Leo Houlding's and George McGavin's due to the greater link to conservation and wildlife aspects to the world. After 10pm we had a chance to meet the speakers, and I managed to have quick conversations with Leo Houlding and Helen Glover, while I was privileged to meet Steve as well.
It was a largely fascinating and inspirational night that, hopefully, will make a difference.
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| Steve Backshall and us |
Thanks for reading :)
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