Annual Report 2010
Annual Report 2010
The highlight of the year was the successful completion of the crossing of the Greenland Ice Cap during May 2009 by our four new Fuchs Scholars, led by the two experience polar expeditioners. The team included two Inuit dog drivers with their teams of huskies. During their first few days at Ammassalik they worked with the local school and, after delays getting on the ice cap due to bad weather, the team started their crossing on 8th May, and completed the crossing in just 21 days.
The team were one of very few that achieved a crossing during the season which is a considerable credit to the teachers all of which were not experienced skiers at the start. During their time in Greenland they were in communication with their schools and the local media, and on their return gave an account of their experience at an event at Wolfson College, Cambridge. That occasion was completed by a dinner at which Marie, Lady Herbert, gave an inspiring account of her life with her family in Greenland, emphaising how important it is for individuals to make the most of their opportunities and challenges that they experience in their life.
During April the new team of four teachers were selected for the second Antarctic Expedition which is to go to the Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica, in November 2010. The group includes for the first time a primary school teacher who is from Newham Borough in East London. She will be accompanied by the head of chemistry from Thomas Hardye School in Dorset, and two science teachers from Ealing and Haverill in Cambridgeshire. There has been enormous support from these teachers’ schools for which the Foundation is most grateful, and from the Winston Chruchill Foundation and the Ogden Trust, as well as their school communities and friends. A week was spent in Norway during February to acquaint the teachers with the conditions that hey will experience.
The Foundation has concentrated on developing in a greater way the involvement of students with the expeditions, before, during and particularly after completion of the expedition phase. This has resulted in close collaboration with the Geography Association (GA), the Association for Science Education, the National Space Centre at Leicester, and the Prince’s Teaching Institute with whom a CPD seminar was held, organised by the GA. The emphaisis has led to two of the next expedition’s projects being designed with the help of the students themselves.
The events at which the Trustees have spoken include three primary schools, several secondary schools and a number of local groups. These publicise the work of the Foundation and do result in generous donations.
The fundraising environment can only be described as difficult due to the economic climate, and substantial support has yet to be raised for the Antarctic expedition in November 2010. The accounts for the year ending 31st March 2010 can be viewed at the bottom of the Annual Report web page.
There have been no changes in the Trustee body this year, and the Trustees remain grateful for all the support that the many and various collaborations give to the charity’s work.
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