Tag: 2015 Grant
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Walking the Great Wall in Winter
First: Hi Tim, Happy New Year! I just got back from Australia last night, and I plan to head off tomorrow morning for my trek…” Then: I’ve just taken a closer look at the weather forecast and it’s meant to snow and hit -20C overnight at the nearest weather station (meaning it’ll be closer to…
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Two Teenagers Cross Stradbroke Island
From the hundreds of applications we received for our expedition grant last year, perhaps my favourite came from George Kefford. His idea was wonderfully simple: take a boat to a desert island off the coast of Australia and then walk across it. Apparently it’s the second largest sand island in the world and, apparently, no…
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‘I’ve never won anything this exciting in my life!’ – Meet the 2015 Grant Winners
I recently announced the winners of The Next Challenge Expedition Grant. Below are some introductions to them all. I love the broad spectrum of people we have: They range from 14 to 48 They hail from England to Australia, China to Scotland They are students and teachers, marine conservationists and forest engineers Their trips will…
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From Never Having Run a 5k to Running 5,000 Miles
Last month we awarded a series of small grants to some people with great adventure ideas. Over the coming months, we’ll hear more about each of those adventures in the winners’ own words as I host guest blogs from them all. One of the winners was Elise Downing. She started her challenge of running around…
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This is What People Said When I Told Them They’d Won/Not Won My Grant
Over the last few weeks I have sent a lot of emails. 1,300 people applied for our expedition grant and I’ve been in contact with them all. Crudely, my emails have either said ‘Congratulations, you have won’ or ‘I’m very sorry but your application wasn’t successful’. And, as you’d imagine, I’ve had quite a range of responses.…
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And The Winner Is… Announcing The 2015 Next Challenge Expedition Grant Winners
I have just finished sending emails to all of those who were shortlisted for our expedition grant. I had 32 responses from the short list and I would have happily funded them all if I could. But we only had limited funds. And, as such, we’ve chosen one big winner and nine smaller winners. I’ve got to…
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Email Sent to those Unsuccessful in Applying for My Expedition Grant
Dear applicant, I am afraid your application for The Next Challenge Grant has not been successful. We had over 1,300 applications and it just wasn’t possible to support them all. As someone who has been rejected by many grant applications myself, I know how disappointing it can feel… But it shouldn’t. In dreaming something big…
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The Shortlist for the 2015 Next Challenge Expedition Grant
I am delighted to reveal the wonderful adventure ideas that have made it onto our shortlist for the expedition grant. We had over 1,300 applications and I’ve had the unenviable task of narrowing that down to less than 50. They’ve all now been invited to fill out a more detailed application form (the initial one…
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Over 1,000 People Applied For My Expedition Grant
On Wednesday night, applications for The Next Challenge Expedition Grant closed. At that time, well over a thousand different people had submitted applications. One thousand! When I announced the idea a couple of months ago I never thought it would be this popular. But then I wasn’t sure if I’d get 100 backers for it…
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Win £1,300 for an Adventure (My Expedition Grant Just Trebled)
I am thrilled to announce that, thanks to the backing of Mark Beaumont, Al Humphreys and others, The Next Challenge Expedition Grant is now worth a whopping £1,200 £1,300. Apply here. How has this happened? First, I offered the £200 that my website made in advertising last year. Then, 100 people each threw in £2…
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How I Fund My Expeditions
The heartbreaking hunt for sponsorship By far the most common query and perceived stumbling block for those planning an expedition is how to fund it. This normally manifests in a heartbreaking hunt for sponsors and a search for the golden ticket that will make it happen. Sometimes people get lucky but 99 times out of…
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100 People Just Gave £2 Towards Someone Else’s Adventure
At some point in the small hours of this morning, a final donor contributed £2 towards my expedition grant and pushed us over the line. We now have 100 backers, £200 from crowdfunding and £200 from me*. It’s a lovely feeling to find so many people willing to make an effort and give some of…