The achievements of Max MacGillivray, the man behind The Great Fruit Adventure, have been recognised by Theresa May who has honoured the founder of the London to Cape Town motorbike bike trip with the Points of Light Award.
“Through ‘The Great Fruit Adventure’, you are inspiring thousands of children to learn about the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables, helping them to develop healthier attitudes to eating,” the Prime Minister said in a personal letter to Max.
The idea for The Great Fruit Adventure was born several years ago when Max wanted to create a buzz and educate children about the health benefits of eating fresh produce.
He embarked on a social media and marketing campaign in the run up to the expedition, including presenting the bikes at last year’s London Produce Show, and built up a buzz and large following for the challenging three-month trip.
The upshot was to travel from London to Cape Town by motorbike visiting almost 50 different growers and farms en route. Having recently completed the 18,000 kilometre motorbike journey through 18 European and African countries, he is now inspiring thousands of schoolchildren with stories about his adventure.
Max filmed the visits tracking the journey of various produce like apples, baby sweetcorn, mangetout and much more, and is now visiting schools up and down the country showing the fresh produce movies and talking to children about the origins of fruit and veg so they are much more excited to eat it.
“I am truly honoured to receive the Points of Light award. Seeing the ongoing issue of childhood obesity in the UK and Internationally we knew we had to do something proactive to make a difference,” he says.
“Kids need to be educated in a fun and informed manner about making healthy eating choices and why they should eat more fantastic fresh produce. Without the support of the international fresh produce community and our great team, we would not have been able to complete the trip from London to Cape Town on motorbikes successfully and to have gained the awareness for our cause that we have done to date.
“But we have only just started on our mission. We have so much more to show and create and present to kids, their schools and their families about healthy eating and fresh produce. To have this endorsement from the Prime Minister is going to accelerate our healthy eating cause enormously.”
The Points of Light Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of volunteers who are making a real different in their community.
