From organising inclusive soapbox races in South Africa during Apartheid, to co-founding the world’s largest motorcycle charity ride, working in motorsports as both a race car driver and as a motoring journalist, and serving as a volunteer firefighter in Australia for two decades, Exeter alumnus Steve Kealy (MBA International Management, 1995) has lived a life of extraordinary service, adventure, and global citizenship.
Born in Libya, Steve was raised across Yemen, Nigeria, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and South Africa, along with stints in Italy, France, Germany, and England. In his teens and while still at school, during – and despite – South Africa’s Apartheid era, Steve arranged billy-cart (soap-box) races for kids of all races in the black township of Soweto near Johannesburg, where he lived.
In his 20s, he and his wife Liz launched The Toy Run, an annual one-day motorcycle charity event to gather and distribute toys to under-privileged children before Christmas each year. From the outset, The Toy Run was inclusive to all, with the event’s motto being “All races welcome, All races benefit”.
Despite personal death threats and Apartheid bureaucracy, the event became the largest multi-decade motorcycle charity event in the world, attracting up to 80,000 participants, with toys strapped to their bikes as they journeyed through the cities of South Africa.
Now in its fifth decade, The Toy Run has benefitted between three and five million people. In 1992, Steve was thanked in person for his efforts by Dr (later President) Nelson Mandela.
Alongside his charitable work on The Toy Run, Steve has spent a portion of his life working in motorsports, where he began writing about motorcycles in 1984, and was then editing both car and bike magazines by 1986. By 1988, Steve was Motoring Editor of The Star newspaper in Johannesburg, becoming Group National Motoring Editor along the way. “I was the South African Motorist Journalist of the Year twice, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, variously winning in the Magazine, Newspaper and Broadcast categories along the way,” Steve reminisces.
Steve’s passion for motorsports extended beyond his written and editorial work; between 1988 and 1994, he actively raced both cars and motorcycles. One highlight of Steve’s racing career includes winning the Zimbabwe Grand Prix in 1993, his first race back after breaking his neck five months prior. “The prize money was enough to get the team, the car and my race bike back to the border, and I donated all ten cases of the sponsor’s product (Australian beer) to the prize-giving party.”
Just a year later, Steve moved to the UK in 1994, undertaking an MBA (International Management), at the University of Exeter’s Business School. When asked about his fondest memories of his time at Exeter, Steve recalled “Being a country boy, in summer I enjoyed walking barefoot on the magnificent lawns between the Business School and the main campus. And visiting pubs which were twice as old as my country was a jolt, as was walking through the Roman tunnels”.
After graduating in 1995, Steve decided the English climate didn’t quite agree with him, and career opportunities beckoned in Australia. Soon after settling in Australia, Steve joined the Country Fire Authority (CFA) as a volunteer firefighter, and May 2025 marked 20 years of unbroken voluntary service. In that time, Steve has responded to several hundred emergencies, qualified to drive fire trucks, used his First Aid training to save a stranger’s life, and has served as a Lieutenant, Community Engagement Officer, and Brigade President. Steve shares “I have seen nature’s fury in fire, flood and storm, attended structure fires, car crashes and comforted many people during the very worst days of their lives.”
Steve has been awarded Australia’s National Emergency Medal twice, for service during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009, and again for the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season, known as Black Summer, one of the most catastrophic fire seasons on record.
Alongside this, Steve has been awarded with the National Medal for dedicated service. He devotes around 400 hours a year to CFA duties, equivalent to around 10 working weeks per year. Both Steve’s wife Liz, and his son Zach, are also qualified volunteer firefighters.
In 2017, Steve revisited his passion for motorsports, when he and his wife rode their motorcycles 45,000km, effectively the distance around the world, through 17 countries on four continents, including the entire length of South and Central America.
Now, Steve is an author of five books, writing dark fiction and action trillers, and is currently researching a PhD on the evolution of fictional male military action heroes.
He has most recently agreed to be a volunteer Ambassador and Role Model for the Books in Homes charity, which provides free books to children living in remote, disadvantaged, and low socio-economic circumstances.
Having lived such a varied and fulfilling life, we asked Steve what parting advice he would give to other alumni looking to make a meaningful impact: “Stay nimble, think globally, be bold, back yourself – and never miss the chance to be kind.”
If you would like to hear more from Steve and continue to follow along with his journey, you can find further details on his website, and you can discover more about his published books online.
If you have a story to share about your career since graduating from the University of Exeter, then we would love to hear from you! Our DMs are always open on socials (Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook), or you can email us at alumni@exeter.ac.uk.