‘Sarah – You are obviously certifiably bonkers. Thank God.‘
Dawn French
in a nutshell
I am Sarah Outen, a young(ish) adventurer at 2.5 decades old, hooked on life and wild places, and inspiring others to follow their own dreams.
One day I will be a teacher,be it in a classroom or not, and for now I am enjoying the opportunities to share my experiences and encourage other people to find and redefine their own boundaries.
I love adventure – the feeling of not quite knowing if or how you will make your destination, of pushing the limits and testing yourself against yourself and the elements. My love of the wild led me to a degree in Biology at the University of Oxford and in 2009 took me out to sea on the biggest adventure of my life, rowing across the Indian Ocean. It is this that has inspired me to go on to more crazy, wonderful journeys in which I can find more stories to share and push my boundaries more and more.
born to be wild
I do all that I can to shout about how brilliant wildlife is and to support projects and charities which promote greater understanding of the environment and campaign for increased protection of resources, habitats and landscapes. It’s all about joined up thinking – life on the ocean showed me that everything is connected and we all have a duty to stand up and be counted and take responsibility for our actions. Time is running out – fish stocks are forecast to collapse by 2050, species are going extinct at a rate of knots, rubbish is filling the oceans and habitats are being destroyed.
my favourites
I am proud to work closely with the following organisations:
Having surfed with albatrosses out on the Indian Ocaen, one of the campaigns closest to my heart is the Save the Albatross Campaign, which works to reduce bycatch of seabirds on longline fisheries in the Southern hemisphere. It is a very hopeful story, with recent successes of 85% reductions in the numbers of birds being killed in certain fisheries. It is spearheaded by the RSPB and Birdlife International, among other local partners. www.rspb.org
The John Muir Trust is a leading conservation charity campaigning for increased protection of wild lands in the UK and promotes recognition and awareness of the value of wild places. Education is crucial to this and the John Muir Award was set up for exactly this reason. www.jmt.org
The blue bits of this world are my favourite. So I am fully behind the work of the Blue Project. Working to encourage folks out onto the water, and inspire interaction between sports and the environment, I am proud to support their work as a Blue Champion. www.theblueproject.org
