Tag: Next Challenge Grant
-
Five Years of The Next Challenge Grant
I have now been running this website for over 10 years. That seems hard to believe, but what I find even more surprising is that my grant has been going for almost half of that time. This year will be the sixth year in which I offer expedition grants to aspiring adventurers, yet it still…
-
Swimming the Sardinian Coast
This video makes me green with envy every time I watch it. It just looks stunning. In 2015, Sebastian Schweizer applied to The Next Challenge Grant for his planned expedition to swim part of the Sardinian coast. His one key expense was for a desalinator so that he could get drinking water from the sea.…
-
Paddle Boarding Lough Neagh
The 2020 Next Challenge Grant opened for applications today. And to the mark the occasion, we have a story from 2017 grant winner Joanne McCallum, who took a paddle board across Lough Neagh. One of the great things about Jo’s trip is that she managed to fit it around life and work by spreading out…
-
Running a Marathon at Marathon (in full Greek garb)
Grant winner Joshua Powell describes his attempt to run a marathon at Marathon dressed as a Greek soldier. Running a Marathon at Marathon by Joshua Powell It was October 2016 and I was approaching the end of English Heritage’s ‘1066 March’, marking the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066. We had traced…
-
Cycling to the Most Northerly Inhabited Part of the UK to Perform a One Woman Mythological Opera in a Lighthouse
Without doubt, this is the best title I have ever had on my blog. When I read it on the application form for my grant, I knew I had to support it. In fact, it’s such a good title that I don’t think I really need to offer any more explanation (even if I were…
-
How to Build an Adventure Career from Scratch – Interview with Bex Band
When Bex Band won a Next Challenge Grant to ride a kick-scooter 150 miles around London, it was her first big adventure. In her application for the 2016 grant, she wrote: “Myself and my husband have never done anything like this before. We are very ordinary – I am a secondary school teacher and my…
-
The Winners of the 2019 Next Challenge
I am delighted to announce the winners of the 2019 Next Challenge Grant. There are 11 fantastic adventure ideas ranging from prison island “swimming escapes” and fat-biking across a frozen plateau, to crossing a mountain range in northeastern Russia and walking the Staffordshire Way with a baby. The Next Challenge Grant would not be possible…
-
Walking Sweden’s Largest Island
Matus won a Next Challenge Grant for his idea of circumnavigating Sweden’s largest island, Gotland, on foot. He hit some trouble along the way though which meant he couldn’t complete his trip. When he got back home, he tried give his grant money back but I encouraged him to share his story instead. I am…
-
Kayaking to the Black Sea
Anna and Kate had never met each other before they decided to paddle a tandem kayak from England to Romania. But that’s exactly what they did… [one_sixth]–[/one_sixth] [two_third][box] The Next Challenge Grant Kate & Anna’s trip was supported by The Next Challenge Grant, an annual bursary for aspiring adventurers. It’s funded by me – Tim…
-
2019 Grant Deadline Extended (plus: win £150’s worth of free kit)
Two bits of news for you grant fans: 1. 2019 Grant deadline The deadline for the 2019 Next Challenge Grant has been extended. It was previously 31 December 2018 but is now 31 January 2019. In previous years, the grant has taken place over two rounds: an initial application followed by detailed applications from a…
-
Walking all of Dartmoor’s Tors
The ‘Ten Tors’ is a notoriously tough challenge that happens every year in Dartmoor. As the name suggests, it involves walking up ten different hills in the National Park. Grant winner Emily Woodhouse had done that before though. Several times. She wanted a bigger challenge. She decided to try walking up every tor on Dartmoor.…
-
From City to Summit – Walking from Boston to Mount Washington
My least favourite part of running my own expedition grant is having to turn people down. Which is why I love it so much when someone who doesn’t win a grant still completes their expedition. Here’s one such story from Tom Hennell, who recently walked from Boston city centre to the summit of Mount Washington.…