Boy on Borneo mission set for some monkey business

The 15-year-old schoolboy will be spending his half-term holiday cycling over 280 miles through the North of England and Scotland to raise funds for a conservation trip to Borneo next year.

He will be accompanied on the trip by a member of a species he’s hoping to help to save, albeit a cuddly toy version – Orlando the orangutan.

The cuddly toy also recently accompanied Billy on a training run as the pair prepared for their demanding bike ride challenge.

Billy, who lives in the village of Kirkham, near Malton, and is in year 10 at Malton School, will be leaving Tynemouth, near his grandparents’ home, on Saturday and hopes to reach Inverness, 286 miles away, by Saturday June 1.

Sponsorship money from the bike ride will go towards a trip to Borneo in the summer of 2014 with Camps International, which operates camps with local communities, guaranteeing life-changing benefits for travellers and the people they live with.

Billy’s trip will involve work to improve the educational infrastructure and living standards of a rural community in the Sabah region of Borneo, including building schools and kindergartens and assisting with environmental conservation programmes along the Kinabatangan River, replanting tree corridors to connect the rainforest and restore biodiversity.

As well as Orlando, Billy will be accompanied by friends and family members on different legs of the journey.

Yesterday Billy who hopes to raise at least £500 from his half-term trip said his fundraising effort had already got under way.

“I’ve been raising money towards the trip and training at the same time by giving up my bus pass and cycling to school every day,” Billy said yesterday.

For further information about Camps International visit the website: www.campsinternational.com

To donate to Billy’s fund people should visit the website: billy2borneo.com or people should call 01653 619748 for more information.