Nigel Bidgood (left) receiving his award from Ted Gray, YET Awards Lead
The Stephenson Award is named after Alfred Stephenson, who was the first Chairman of the YET Expedition Screening Panel and a great believer in the value of youth expeditions. He was a noted polar explorer and a member of the highly successful British Graham Land Expedition 1935–1937 (now called the Antarctic Peninsula). He was also secretary of the Antarctic Club for over 40 years.
In March, the Young Explorers Trust presented three Stephenson Awards to highly-deserving people.
Nigel Bidgood BSc MSc PGCE FRGS
Nigel has spent forty years working in Independent Schools, both prior to, and after retirement from full-time work in 2017. For most of this time he was a housemaster and latterly for sixteen years a deputy head culminating as Vicegerent (Senior Deputy Head) at Loretto School near Edinburgh.
He has throughout this time acted as the Chief Leader on school expeditions with total responsibility for the design, organisation and logistics. He has organised and led twenty major school expeditions to boreal and arctic areas of Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Canada since 1987.
He has acted as an advisor and screener of expeditions for the Young Explorers’ Trust over many years and organised a forum in Spring 2018. In addition, he has organised and led fourteen adult expeditions to Iceland and Greenland. He has taken part in both summer and winter mountain training courses and in several ‘Far from Help’ wilderness-orientated first aid courses.
In 2004, he was awarded a Fellowship by The Royal Geographical Society in recognition of his work with youth expeditions over the preceding twenty years. He is also a member of The Arctic Club.
He is, by academic training a botanist and a specialist in the flora of the Arctic, having completed a research degree in plant adaptations to stressed environments at Reading University in 1985.
Clearly Nigel’s impact over many years on the lives of so many young people is immeasurable and truly demonstrates the value of expeditions as an Outdoor learning vehicle.