This is the last in a series of nine trading days in which Secker and his partner Katherine Scott, originally from South Africa, hoped to raise a total of £250,000; before the penultimate flight they had already secured £230,000. The money will support various causes including the Ubuntu Education Fund in the Eastern Cape, where it will be used to help develop their recently established Early Childhood Development Programme.
I attended a Flying Trader day on 28 June, spending time at the Knowledge to Action trading floor before meeting with Greg, Katherine and the traders at the London Heliport hotel. Many of the participants have turned to trading while looking for work, or as a second income, and have received training from the Foundation in Foreign Exchange and Stock Market trading.
Filip Ogidel, orignally from Poland, undertook the Knowledge to Action training course six weeks ago. “It was always something I wanted to do,” said Ogidel. “And now I may well take up more trading in the future.” He landed the award for the best effort, while prizes for the most pips per trade went to Khalid Malik and Shummile Quai.
With Knowledge to Action trading floors in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as other international locations, Secker has considered holding parallel trading events in SA, but is unsure of the logistics. Here in London Secker intends to move on from his Flying Trader pseudonym, possibly taking inspiration from the river next time rather than the air. People question the reasons behind his projects but Secker always likes to try new things. ”I’m not a why guy, I’m a why not guy,” he grinned, “but I’ll try something different next time.” As he proceeded to tell me about his work with fellow philanthropist Sir Richard Branson an image flashed to mind of them egging each other on like a pair of naughty schoolchildren.
Secker, like Branson, belives charity and business should work hand in hand, especially in times of economic recession. He subscribes to Virgin Unite’s ‘Screw business as Usual’ intiative that calls for symbiotic collaboration of the two in order to create capital for both. As well as their work with Ubuntu the Knowledge to Action Foundation will be working with Branson’s Pride ‘n Purpose charity, which helps disadvantaged communities around South African’s Sabi Sand Reserve get better access to food, water, health and education services.
