ANTARCTICA DAY – PRESS RELEASE

Antarctica Day 1^st December 2021 – The Advent Countdown to the Kent Scouts REQUEST2021 Antarctica Expedition Begins

• Antarctica Day was established as a way to celebrate the continuation of the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed on the 1st December 1959.
• The Antarctic Treaty set aside 10% of the planet “forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes in the interest of mankind”.
• The advent countdown to the REQUEST2021 team’s departure begins today.
• They fly from Heathrow to South America on Boxing Day and then sail from Ushuaia in Argentina for Antarctica on 30^th December 2021.

Alan Noake REQUEST2021 Project leader, said:

“With exactly a month to go before we sail; we couldn’t have had a more appropriate day in the calendar to announce our immanent departure to Antarctica after many years of dedicated fundraising and planning. We want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has helped us turn the dream into a reality.”

The ReQuest2021 project is a wider programme of activity centred around the expedition to Antarctica to commemorate the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition of 1921-1922. 100 years after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Quest sailed to Antarctica a ten strong team of Scouts and leaders are recreating the original ethos of the expedition by undertaking their own voyage to the frozen south. The ten participants will undertake research projects whilst in Antarctica on issues such as climate change, energy, exploration, education, health and the environment. Findings will be presented in a range of engaging formats including photography, soundscapes, reports, artwork and interactive forums.

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Bear Grylls, Chief Scout, said:

“You are truly following in the footsteps of many legends including the great Sir Ernest Shackleton who set off on his Quest expedition. You are also doing vital work in how we can protect the world around us, which is so important.”

YOUTUBE LINK: https://youtu.be/4yqlb4Rz4Qk

The ReQuest2021, Antarctic Research Project Team will be sailing on board Bark Europa tall ship from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic Peninsula, a 2000km+ voyage, and crossing the infamous Drake Passage, to the Antarctic Peninsula which the Scouts will be exploring for two weeks.

The Shackleton-Rowett Expedition of 1921-1922 included two Scouts: James Marr and Norman Mooney. On 30th December 2021 the team of ten scouts and their leaders will follow in Marr and Mooney’s footsteps and depart from South America for Antarctica.

The project is based upon three key principles: –

1. PEACE – Young people will form relationships with each other, their communities, other

Scouts around the world, and their environment.

2. ENVIRONMENT – Young people are more concerned about nature than ever and want to protect our environment – one study found that 60% of young people are worried or extremely worried about climate change.

3. HERITAGE – A way for young people to connect with intrepid explorers from the past, through an innovative programme of events, and mark those who went before.

Tracy Edwards, the skipper of the first all-female crew to sail around the world in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race said:

“I am very jealous that I am not going with you. Bon voyage! Have a fantastic adventure.”

For more information, please contact alan.noake@kentscouts.org.uk 07525 633435

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

About the Project

• For more information about the ReQuest2021 expedition and the research projects, please visit http://www.request2021.org.uk  
• The ReQuest2021, Antarctic Research Project Team will be sailing on board Bark Europa tall ship from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic Peninsula from 30^th Dec 2021 to 20^th January 2022.
• Over the past four years the ten Scouts have undertaken fundraising activities including a rowing challenge, grand auction and online merchandise sales to raise £135,000 for the expedition.
• A key sponsor of the Request expedition is the East and West Kent Freemasons which have the same core values of supporting young people www.eastkentfreemasons.org  and www.westkentmasons.org.uk  
• Individual Projects: CLIMATE CHANGE (LUCY), PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT (GENEVIEVE), 3D ICEBERG SIMULATION (GEORGE), COLLABORATIVE ARTWORK (DARCEY), OCEAN CURRENTS (SAM), ANTARCTIC SOUNDSCAPE (ALAN), MOTION SICKNESS STUDY (CATHY), PLASTIC POLUTION (HELEN), ELECTRICITY GENERATION (MATT), GEOMAGNETICALLY INDUCED CURRENTS (ALEX)
• Group Project: THE ANTARCTICA SCOUT KRILL project. Partnership with British Antarctic Survey to study and raise awareness of the importance of Antarctic krill to the Southern Ocean ecosystem.
• EXPEDITION PARTICIPANT NAMES AND LOCATIONS THEY ARE FROM: –
  • Alan Noake, Deal, Walmer, Sandwich & District Kent
  • Cathy Mummery, Weald District, Kent
  • Matt Wood, Malling District, Kent
  • Helen Smith, Gravesham District, Kent
  • Lucy Morgan, Sevenoaks District, Kent
  • Genevieve Scullion, Deal, Walmer, Sandwich & District, Kent
  • George Stonor, Faversham District, Kent
  • Darcey Holmes, Thanet District, Kent
  • Sam Payne, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
  • Alex Maciver, Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland

About Scouts:

   

• All genders, races and backgrounds are welcome at Scouts. Every week, it gives almost half a million people aged 6-25 the skills they need for school, college, university, the job interview, the important speech, the tricky challenge and the big dreams: the skills they need for life.   
• Scouts helps members gain these skills by encouraging them to ask the big questions and listen with wide open minds. It helps them to take a deep breath and speak up, think on their feet, ignore the butterflies and go for it. With Scouts, young people don’t give up – they get back up and try again, often with the support of the friends they’ve made there.   
• Our volunteers contribute more than 50 million hours of voluntary work each year to their local communities.