Alfie Watts Faces Theft Ahead of School Tour
Alfie Watts, winner of the BBC's Race Across the World series four, has expressed his "enormous frustration" after his car was broken into and his laptop stolen while he was on a school tour. The incident occurred at Howard Place, Cardiff, on Tuesday night.
Watts, 22, explained that the stolen laptop contained presentations he uses during his talks with young people about positivity, resilience, and mental health.
He had parked his vehicle and left it unattended for approximately 20 minutes when an opportunist smashed a window and located the laptop bag under his seat.
"I honestly reckon someone is just like 50-50, either there's something in there for me to take or there isn't," Watts said.
He described the theft as "a low point," especially following two other unrelated thefts he experienced in the past two months.
Fortunately, the material on his laptop had been backed up online, ensuring that three scheduled talks on Wednesday, including one at Mount Stuart Primary School in Cardiff Bay, could proceed as planned.
Background and Previous Challenges
Watts, originally from Hatfield, Hertfordshire, faced no thefts during his extensive journey for Race Across the World, where he and his friend Owen Wood travelled over 9,300 miles (15,000 km) across eastern Asia.
"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."
The thief also took a packet of Werther's Original sweets and a sports racquet along with the laptop.
Watts shared his experience with his 320,000 Instagram followers, stating that the police informed him there was "not much they can do but will check the CCTV on-site."
"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," he added.
Last year, Watts spent 192 days travelling around the world, sharing social media content about his experiences. Recently, he raised £50,000 for the mental health charity Young Minds by driving a tuk-tuk from London to Norway.
Watts has been conducting a tour of 35 schools across the UK, sharing his experiences to inspire young people with messages of perseverance, kindness, and self-belief.
Additional Theft Incidents During Recent Travels
During his recent travels, Watts had his mobile phone stolen by a thief on an electric bike in London while he was using it for navigation last week.
Two months prior, his original laptop was stolen during a bag theft in Santiago, Chile.
"I seem to be wanting to set a world record for the amount of capital cities visited and stuff stolen," he remarked. "I didn't have any theft issues on the race."
Police Response
A spokesperson for South Wales Police commented on the incident, emphasizing that being a victim of car crime is "upsetting, costly and inconvenient." They warned that "there are opportunistic thieves who act very quickly to smash and grab any belongings left in vehicles."
The police confirmed they had received Watts' report but stated that no suspects had been identified at this time.
