Article, Question & Kits

posted a photo

Rockall

posted a photo

Wave tops Rockall

posted a photo

The Rockpod

knowledge and practiced skill will always be more useful than any first aid kit. as outdoor first aid is also about using what you have around you. most, items in these lists you will have in one form or another in your pack, your clothes, and the environment you are in. so knowledge, then a book, you can always look it up after you have done your DRSABCD or whatever system you use.

So true - all of it. In my experience the hourly pay from working is far higher than from time spent hunting down sponsors. A £100 piece of kit can easily translate into 20 hours of chasing, thanking, reviewing, meeting, blogging, etc, and that's ignoring the £50 train fare to go and see the 'sponsor' in the first place. I'll have to start paying for my own holidays again...

Thanks for a very informative and helpful article.

Hi Matthew,

Before going to a sponsor it's a good idea to sort out some stuff, since you want to make a match between the sponsor and your project/expedition:

At least be able to name the following about your own project/expedition:

- The socio-economic characteristics of the practitioners, enthusiasts and viewers of your project/expedition;

- The core value(s) of the image of your project/expedition;

- The characteristics of the expedition itself;

- The media-attention you can, or want to, create;

- All manners in which you can, or want to, create attention in others ways (for instance: events);

- The way you want a sponsor to help you, whether that's financially or with their products et cetera;

- Your costs;

To make a match, you need some info on your prospects. So, you want to know at least the following from your future sponsor:

- Their target audience;

- Their objectives;

- Their mission, vision and positioning statement(s);

- Their communication-strategy and -policy;

- The corporate culture;

- And last but not least, their budget.

Now, see if you can match your characteristics with those of your prospect. The bigger the match, the bigger the chance is they'll help you out. Next to creating an insight on your prospect, working with this "matching model" prepares you on questions you will get from your prospect about your expedition.

I know my comment doesn't answer your question entirely but I hope it helps you and others in the quest for sponsorship.

Kind regards,

Leon

We've been discussing, planning and writing some "Funding resources here at EC HQ for a while now. We will be publishing them really soon - and will let you know when we do.

Hi Matthew,

Some universities have expedition grants that they award on an annual basis, you should check if your university has one of these and apply. You could put together an expedition proposal containing the following and present it to the university (taken from my universities expedition society guidelines).

Proposals are invited setting out the Expedition title and:

1. Outline of the nature of the expedition, including

Dates

Location(s) to be visited

Nature of work/activity to be undertaken

Transport to be used - both to and within the country to be visited

Accommodation to be used

Sources of information regarding conditions in the areas to be visited

2. Statement of Aims and Objectives

3. Summary of latest Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice for countries to be visited.

4. Permissions required and how they will be obtained.

5. Medical precautions - vaccinations and other medical precautions which will be taken to ensure good health of expedition members. Please note that not all vaccinations are free on the NHS. Any costs associated with vaccinations should be included in the budget figures.

6. Casualty evacuation - how will expedition members be evacuated in a medical emergency to a location where they can receive appropriate medical treatment?

7. Risk assessment - a description of what are perceived to be the main sources of risk associated with the expedition and a summary of the measures which will be taken to minimise the risks.

8. Names of key group participants, including: Leader; Deputy Leader; Treasurer

9. Details of first aid training which will be undertaken prior to departure and which members of the expedition will obtain first aid qualifications.

10. The name of someone in the United Kingdom who will act as the “home agent” for the expedition and the name of a deputy. These people will act as the contact points in the UK in event members of the expedition experience difficulties while overseas. Explain how the expedition will communicate with the home agent.

11. The name of a staff member who will act as a contact to advise the team on the topic or location of the expedition. (if relevant)

12. Details of any individuals and organisations with whom the expedition is collaborating in the host country

13. Budget statement

14. Environmental policy (if appropriate)

There is also a number of funding bodies who help support independent expeditions such as yours. Which ones will sponsor you depends on the nature of your expedition, whether it's a scientific, exploratory, charity, mountaineering etc

hope this helps,

Justin Boylan-Toomey

Hi ,my name is John Bamber ,I help out with Extreme World Races.One of my jobs out in the Canadian Arctic is maintaining power for Sat phones ,computers,cameras etc etc etc.We manage to keep things going with an 80watt solar panel which will supply 4amps of power.I use a 12volt lead acid motorbike battery as a tank,(supplying what the solar panel can't generate in real time)and use a 150w or 300 w invertor supplying 220v ac to a 13 amp socket.Anything that is 12v compatible is charged via a cigar socket,anything else is charged via its own dedicated charger through the invertor.,the dreaded i-players are charged via a 12v usb socket.

On the subject of power monkeys and the like,don't over estimate what they will do in extreme cold,one of their main failings ,unless they have addressed this problem is that the output cable becomes brittle and break with the cold.

Hope this is of use to anyone thinking of looking after bulk equipment in cold places,contact me via EWR if you want anymore info. John

posted a photo

posted a photo

posted a photo

posted a photo

Hard work!

Advice on fundraising for NGOs, Education, and expeditions would be fantastic. Looking forward to seeing more. Great looking website too.