A geography teacher from Kent is heading to Belgium this weekend with an unusual goal, he wants the best seagull screech in Europe.

Sam, 38, from Rochester, will take part in the European Seagull Screeching Championship in the Belgian town of De Panne. The competition is held to promote a positive image of the coastal birds.

He said entering had been met with “bewilderment” from some people, but his wife, who he met at the University of Brighton, was “not as surprised as most”.

“I like experiences, I like saying yes to things. I want to show my kids that you can say yes, you can grasp opportunities,” he said.

Sam said he was inspired to enter by Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, a book and later TV programme by comedian Tony Hawks about his attempt to track down all 11 members of the Moldovan national football team and beat them at tennis.

For Sam, who has two children aged three and eight, the aim is simple.

“If you can set yourself a target, you can achieve it,” he said.

He said his children were delighted he had entered, although they thought it was “a bit more prestigious than it actually is”.

The championship also has children’s and group categories. Last year’s children’s category was won by 11-year-old Cooper from Chesterfield, who also won the competition in 2024.

Cooper was also the guest of honour at the first Weston-super-Mare Seagull Screeching Championship last year.

Sam said he has already asked his wife if the family can “enter as a flock next year”.

“You only get one shot at life, and this could be one of my biggest regrets, but you don’t know until you try.”

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