Student of the Month: May

With the end of another academic year fast approaching and as we head into revision, I’m sure many of you are busy planning summers of adventures, internships or just doing nothing. One person who won’t be sat on the sofa catching up on Netflix is this May’s student of the month: Tessa Pereira. A second year Social Anthropology student, Tessa is spending between the 23^rd June and the 29^th July cycling from London to Rome. Along with Edinburgh student Iona Murray, she is cycling the 1300 miles through the South East, France, Switzerland and Italy in order to raise money for a charity close to her heart: ACER.

Tessa first found out about the charity on her gap year when she decided she wanted to volunteer in Brazil with opportunities for improving her Portuguese. ACER was the charity she chose and she spent 5 months with them in Eldorado, Sao Paulo. The charity works with children who are separated from their parents “due to domestic abuse, neglect or other criminal offences”. Rather than following the norm in deprived areas of Brazil and placing the children in youth hostels or homes, ACER works to set up links with extended family members who can become guardians to the children and help them deal with the children’s trauma together. They are not social workers, but they do offer a network of support for vulnerable children and their families. They also organise social events for both guardians and children and Tessa explained that it has “such an impact on the whole community” with lower levels of crime and child abuse.

The money Tessa aims to raise is £3000, which will go towards building a replica project at Santo André, another site in the city. So far they have reached a total of £1255 and would love further donations for such a good cause and to keep morale high during their ride. Having seen firsthand the work that ACER does, Tessa told me that “all of the money raised will go towards helping those who need it” and that this is a charity that really does make a difference.

Their cycle ride will take them through some of Italy’s most beautiful cities: Siena, Milan, Bologna and Florence, and they’ve allowed themselves extra time to make the most of their trip. They will be going alone and staying at a mixture of friends and hostels with the odd night of camping along the way!

It sounds like quite the adventure and The Stand wishes Tessa all the best! Be sure to check out their Facebook page: and their JustGiving site.