The Everest Awards
The 2014 Everest Awards go to Adam Potter, Frank Huffer and Rebecca Howlett. Adam is a member of the 2417 Biggin Hill ATC expedition to Jordan where he will follow in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia on a 10-day expedition for Wadi Rum to Muchawara. Frank from The Leys School in Cambridge is undertaking a 4-week challenge to adventure through the Himalayas and take part in a school project in the Kullu Valley of India. Rebecca is a member of the Yorkshire Schools Exploring Societies latest expedition to Kenya. They will work on field projects along the coast before camel trekking through the semi-desert areas of north Kenya.
The David Hollier Awards
The 2014 David Hollier Award goes to Zach Thompson of the Meyer Explorer Scouts troop. Zach will be visiting Japan on an Explorer Belt Expedition consisting of a 10-day trek aiming to gain a greater understanding of the landscape, people and culture.
The Jim Bishop Awards
Awarded to two students in 2014 – Chaohui Wang, a first year student at Nottingham University, will be a member of the Raleigh International project in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. This involves spending three weeks on a community project helping the local community and a further three weeks on an environmental project protecting Costa Rica’s natural habitat and wildlife. Adam Middleton-Davies from the London Nautical School is a member of the Laburnam Boat Clubs Autumn expedition to Nepal with the joint aim of a community project and paddling the Kaligandaki River by raft and kayak.
The John Hunt Awards
Emilia Lawless receives a John Hunt Award to enable her to take part in a Raleigh International Expedition to Borneo helping to build a gravity-fed water system, and working in the most remote and untouched rainforests to protect endangered animals. This is before finally spending 3 weeks on a trek through the rainforest.
Sir Vivian Fuchs Awards
Awarded to four students in 2014. Rishvinder Chowdary from the John Lyon School will be expeditioning in Greenland carrying out scientific work and exploring the neighbouring mountains. Tom Crathorne, a student at Lawrence Sheffield School, will be travelling The Silk Route on a 4-week mountain trek through Central Asia. This will include two mountain treks in Kyrghystan and a community project in Uzbekistan. Clare McClung from Girvan School will taking part in a 22-day expedition to Nepal, including an 8-day trek to Annapurna Base Camp. She will also be providing assistance doing charitable work for the Hope Worldwide Foundation, which provides schools for the poorest children in Kathmandu. Nicola Fitzgerald, a Greenshaw Academy student, will also be in Nepal doing some community work in a Kathmandu school before going on a 7-day trek from Naya Pul to Ghandruk.
The Stephenson Awards
Alistair Walker, from Braemar, has a lot of outdoor experience in the Scottish Highlands which has led him to be selected to join an international expedition to Baffin Island and Western Greenland organised by Students on Ice for young people between 14 and 18 years old. The ship-based expedition will visit and explore the coasts, fiords, bays and islands of western Greenland, Baffin Island, and the Northwest Passage. The expedition will include exploring the tundra and marine areas, understanding the biodiversity, observing wildlife behaviour, visits to remote Arctic communities and undertaking environmental research.
The DYEG Awards (named after the Derbyshire Youth Exploration Group)
This is the first year of the DYEG Award which is open to young expeditioners residing or at school in Derbyshire or Yorkshire. In 2014 this goes to Caitlin Hubbard, a student at Shirebrook School, who is linking with a local group to a BES expedition to Namibia. The project includes a week with a local school doing various activities and workshops, including building them a community playground. During the second week they will be trekking part way through the Namibian desert. They hope to build a strong relationship with the Namibian school children and the local people.
The YET Awards
In total there are nine YET awards for 2014. Alec Christie, now at St Andrews University, was last year given a YET award but was unable to take it up. He has now arranged to undertake work on an RSPB nature reserve and bat surveying in June in the Cairngorms. Cameron Mackay from Glasgow University is part of a peer group expedition to Greenland. ‘Greenland360’ is an expedition concept that aims to bring together science, art and education to communicate the full picture of the changing landscape in Greenland. This project is led by young people with the desire to inspire and motivate the next generation to get involved with climate science and to explore and experience wilderness first hand. Rachel Dumbrell is a member of the Dorset Expeditionary Society’s latest Moonland Expedition. The expedition is to the Moonlands area within Ladakh, India. The expedition aim is to promote leadership and personal development opportunities for young people. The expedition will consist of rafting the headwaters of the Indus River, trekking across the Moonlands of the Karakoram Range on the Tibetan Plateau, mountain-biking several high altitude routes to the Chinese border and completing a crossing of the greater Himalaya. Emily Potter, a student at Tendring Technical College, is a member of a Science Expedition to Hawaii, ranging from entering a volcano to studying coral reefs, helping ecologists with rainforest conservation projects. Zac Chrysostomou is a profoundly disabled student at the Heartlands High School. He will be attending a three-week adventure course at Camp Beaumont on the Isle of Wight where he will experience canoeing, abseiling, zorbing and gaining bushcraft skills .
A late YET Award has been made to Stubbinwood School, a special school in Shirebrook, N.E. Derbyshire. This is to support three of their students taking part in an expedition to Namibia. This expedition is organized by the British Exploring Society for Bolsover area students. They will spend 2 weeks in Namibia working on a school community project before undergoing a 4 day trek along a desert canyon.
Additionally in 2015 Katie Smythe, from Aldridge School, will join a Camps International expedition to Borneo undertaking community and environmental work with the opportunity to undertake a PADI scuba diving course.