Man skateboarding to Africa has belongings stolen

A man skateboarding to Africa for charity has said that all his belongings, including his passport, have been stolen.

Sam Allison, who is attempting to skate some 1,500 miles (1,400km) to Tangier in Morocco from Brighton, said it happened while he was camping in France.

"I will be honest, in that moment I was pretty defeated," he told the BBC. "I wanted to give up. They literally took everything."

But, left with just his phone and wallet, Mr Allison said he was not going to let what happened stop him from continuing his estimated 55-day journey.

"It is what it is. Life happens. There is nothing I can do about it," he said in a video posted on Instagram.

"It's just sad. I am trying to do a good thing and I have had that taken from me."

However, Mr Allison added that being "bare bones" had one advantage in that it made skating much easier without the weight of his stuff.

"In a weird way, the universe has a way of working things out. I am kinda grateful," he joked.

Mr Allison said he has had to go to Bordeaux in France to get an emergency travel document and buy a new bag, tent, torch, clothes and sleeping bag.

But he said some of the stolen items had sentimental value, such as the t-shirt he was wearing when he set off, and it was financially difficult to replace everything.

He previously told the BBC he is doing the challenge to raise money for the Ben Raemers Foundation, a charity supporting wellbeing in the skateboarding community.

The 21-year-old is currently about halfway through the challenge, which will see him staying in a tent along the way.

"The trip has been awesome so far. I have met really cool people. We had such great hospitality," he said.

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