Race Across the World winner’s car smashed into and laptop stolen before kids’ mental health talk

This post was originally published on this site.

Race Across the World winner’s car smashed into and laptop stolen before kids’ mental health talk

Alfie Watts sits on a beach with blue sea behind him. He is looking to the right of the camera and squinting in the sunshine. He is wearing a black T-shirt and has short blond hair.
ByNicholas Bourne

BBC Wales
  • Published

Race Across the World winner Alfie Watts has described his “enormous frustration” at having his car broken into and laptop stolen while on a school tour.

His device contained presentations he uses in his talks with young people about positivity, resilience and mental health.

Watts, 22, said he had parked and left his vehicle for about 20 minutes when an opportunist smashed a window and found the laptop bag under his seat at Howard Place, Cardiff, on Tuesday night.

“I honestly reckon someone is just like 50-50, either there’s something in there for me to take or there isn’t,” he said.

Watts said the crime was “a low point” following two other unrelated thefts in the past two months.

The material on his laptop was backed up on the internet so the theft did not affect three scheduled talks from going ahead on Wednesday, including at Mount Stuart Primary School in Cardiff Bay.

Watts faced challenges but no thefts while on his way to winning series four of the BBC’s Race Across the World, travelling in excess of 9,300 miles (15,000km) across eastern Asia with his friend Owen Wood.

“I know it’s not an indictment of the people of Wales, and particularly not the city of Cardiff,” he said.

“It’s just an enormous frustration.”

Three photos show car window smashed with debris on the rear seat and on roadImage source, Alfie Watts

Watts, from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, shared his experiences with his 320,000 followers on Instagram.

“The police have told me that there’s not much they can do but will check the CCTV on-site,” he said.

“As you know, I’m not one to shy away from documenting the hard times as well as the good times, and this one’s a low point sadly.”

Last year, he spent 192 days travelling around the globe, posting social media content about his experiences.

And he has just raised £50,000 for mental health charity Young Minds by driving a tuk-tuk from London to Norway.

This Instagram post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Instagram

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Skip instagram post

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Meta’s Instagram cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

End of instagram post

Watts has been sharing his experiences with young people as part of a tour of 35 schools across the UK to “inspire a message of not giving up, being kind, and believing in yourself”.

During his recent travels he’s had his mobile stolen by a thief on an electric bike in London while he used his phone to navigate across the city last week.

And he had his original laptop stolen during a bag theft in Santiago, Chile, two months ago.

“I seem to be wanting to set a world record for the amount of capital cities visited and stuff stolen,” he said.

“I didn’t have any theft issues on the race.”

A spokesperson for South Wales Police said being the victim of car crime was “upsetting, costly and inconvenient” and warned that “there are opportunistic thieves who act very quickly to smash and grab any belongings left in vehicles.”

The force confirmed it had received Watts’ report but said no suspects had been identified.

Related links

Hot this week

Trust in the WRU has gone, chaos reigns and there’s only one way out if it now

Welsh rugby has lurched from crisis to crisis in...

Burnham meets trade union leaders ahead of expected premiership

Burnham meets trade union leaders ahead of expected premiershipImage...

Melinda Gates’ venture firm backs Magnify Ventures’ $46.6M Fund II

Early-stage firm Magnify Ventures has raised $46.6 million for...

Lisa Faulkner reveals she’s ‘all clear’ after breast cancer diagnosis

Lisa Faulkner reveals she's 'all clear' after breast cancer...

OpenAI proposed donating 5% of its equity to a US sovereign wealth fund

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has proposed giving 5% of...

Topics

Burnham meets trade union leaders ahead of expected premiership

Burnham meets trade union leaders ahead of expected premiershipImage...

Melinda Gates’ venture firm backs Magnify Ventures’ $46.6M Fund II

Early-stage firm Magnify Ventures has raised $46.6 million for...

Lisa Faulkner reveals she’s ‘all clear’ after breast cancer diagnosis

Lisa Faulkner reveals she's 'all clear' after breast cancer...

How is the Wimbledon schedule decided? Your questions answered

How is the Wimbledon schedule decided? Your questions answeredByJonty...
spot_img

Related Articles

Popular Categories

spot_imgspot_img