Ed Pratt, the first man to unicycle around the world, spent last night onboard HMS WELLINGTON as part of his Thames source to sea kayak adventure, the first time this has been attempted.  As part of this challenge, Ed is progressing his entire journey on the Thames.  For his stay in central London, he remained on the Thames and spent the night in the Captain’s Cabin onboard HMS WELLINGTON.

Our loyal and ever-helpful shipkeeper Rey welcomed Ed onboard, helping him secure his kayak.  Trustee Sheena Thomson was also onboard to explain a little more about the history of HMS WELLINGTON and her importance as the last surviving ship from the Battle of the Atlantic. Following a wedding that was taking place in our lovely Courtroom, Ed was able to explore the ship.  This is something we are planning to offer the public by 2025 as we develop HMS WELLINGTON as a visitor attraction alongside our existing venue hiring and education activities.

Ed is also fundraising for the Rivers Trust and using his remarkable journey to throw a spotlight on our polluted rivers.  The public is fully engaged with this too, as Ed has raised over £14,000 and gained over 40,000 new followers on his popular Instagram account since he began his epic journey.  On completing his sea to source challenge, Ed will be producing a documentary series on his YouTube channel, and we can’t wait to see this!

HMS WELLINGTON has been a resident on the River Thames since 1948, and we were happy to welcome Ed onboard in support of his efforts in the battle against river pollution.  We wish him all the very best for the remainder of his sea to source challenge.

You can view Ed’s Instagram post - @mredpratt - here

You can donate to Ed’s JustGiving campaign for the Rivers Trust here:

This year marks the 90th anniversary of HMS WELLINGTON and we have launched the Wellington@90 campaign to increase public awareness and fundraise to secure WELLINGTON’s future.

For further news and updates on HMS WELLINGTON, and what’s happening onboard, please follow The Wellington Trust on Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin.