Scientific Exploration Society Expedition Opportunity

The Wilderness Foundation UK is pleased to bring you news from the Scientific Exploration Society of their forth-coming expedition:



Following its earlier expeditions, the Scientific Exploration Society will once again work alongside Mongolian Scientists having gained the Unique permission to travel to the strictly Protected Area A of SW Mongolia.

Zoological research will be conducted on the critically endangered Gobi Bear and Bactrian Camel to name but a few and will continue by being the first expedition since the early 1970's to undertake palaeontological work in highly protected area.

SES offer limited spaces to paying particapants to find out how you could become involved in this unique expedition and support the Mongolian Scientists complete vital fieldwork please visit the SES web site www.ses-explore.org or contact SES on 01747 854 898

Service of Memorial for David Rattray

A Service of Memorial is being held for our Patron, the late David Rattray, who died in January this year.

The service will take place on Monday 30th April 2007 at Southwark Cathedral, London at 3:00 p.m.

Wilderness Skills on VideoJug

Some months ago, The Wilderness Foundation shared a short slide-show on VideoJug documenting the efforts of some of our volunteers building a basic one-man shelter ... It turned out to be popular well beyond expectations (almost 900 viewings as of today).

Although we're not entirely sure if it is related, VideoJug have now created a whole series of Wilderness/Bushcraft related instructional videos!

Here's just one - We'll be featuring more in the coming weeks, but if you can't wait for that - head straight to VideoJug here.


VideoJug: How To Prepare For A Trip To The Wilds

If you'd like to build on the above and learn/improve wilderness skills in the wild, then get in touch.

Dr. Player makes the news again

The South African Times covered Wilderness Foundation UK founder Ian Player's birthday celebrations last week and in a detailed interview examines his life and work. You can read the article online here.

Dr. Ian Player visits Clouds Hill

Following the very successful 80th Birthday Celebrations for our founder, Dr. Ian Player, held in London on Friday 9th March, Dr. Player departed from the capital in order to travel to Dorset and visit the former cottage of Lawrence of Arabia - Clouds Hill.

Dr. Player has always been an admirer of T.E. Lawrence, most particularly for the way he wrote about the Wilderness. On a previous to England he was able to visit Lawrence's grave, but at that time the cottage was closed. This year, the National Trust, curators of Clouds Hill have opened the cottage especially for Ian's visit, for which we extend our grateful thanks. The opportunity to visit Lawrence's home has made this an even more memorable trip to the UK for Ian.

The Dorset Echo covered Ian's visit to Clouds Hill. An online copy of the article can be read here.

Dr. Ian Player’s 80th Birthday Celebration

On Friday 9^th March the Wilderness Foundation UK hosted an 80^th Birthday celebration dinner for our co-founder Dr. Ian Player. The venue was the Cavalry and Guards Club on Piccadilly and the 100 seats available sold out very quickly. Sir Humphry Wakefield performed the duties of master of ceremony with great aplomb.

Guests came from as far away as Norway, Germany and South Africa and were entertained with an evocative slide show of African wildlife, a charming marionette show depicting the relationship between Ian Player and his Zulu mentor Magqubu Ntombela. Many of Ian Player’s friends and admirers also contributed towards the enjoyment of the occasion with poetry and tales of their wilderness experiences with Ian and the profound affect this had on their lives. Ian thoroughly enjoyed the evening and would like to thank all those who came along making his 80^th Birthday such a memorable occasion.

A big thanks also, from the Wilderness Foundation UK, to the staff at the Cavalry and Guards Club and all those who contributed towards this special celebration.

Investing in Remarkable Youths

On Sunday 10th June 2007 walkers representing The Wilderness Foundations from the UK and South Africa will be taking part in this years "Walk for Life" - organised by Crusaid. We will be raising money to support the Umzi Wethu programme in South Africa.

The money we raise will help to sustain and strengthen the remarkable courage of a group of young people orphaned by HIV/Aids or other causes but determined not to be defined by it.

Umzi Wethu places sixteen young people - vulnerable without parents and fragile without income - in touch with experienced mentors, the healing power of nature, accredited training and successful employment.

At present statistics there are over 800,000 orphans and vulnerable youth in South Africa, including 88,000 child-headed households. Young people facing hardship through force of circumstance not lack of talent or ingenuity.

Please consider sponsoring our team so that this successful programme can continue to invest in remarkable youths. You can visit our online donations page to contribute:

http://www.walkforlife.co.uk/wildernessfoundationuk

By investing in Umzi Wethu you make it possible to focus on sixteen talented young people; you inspire the success of another sixteen; you motivate, in time, another industry; you inspire another community; you inspire another future.

Thank you.

Run for Wilderness

Enjoy a challenge?

Run for Wilderness

The Wilderness Foundation has purchased a number of places for this years British 10k London Run. The race commences at Hyde Park Corner on Sunday 1st July and finishes at Whitehall.

Runners are accompanied by inspirational music such as "Chariots of Fire", "World in Union" and "Land of Hope and Glory" along the historic route. If you would like to support the foundation and are up for a challenge why not sign up?

Participants are asked to raise a minimum of £300 in sponsorship.

Please contact jackie@wildernessfoundation.org.uk for further details.

Gaia Evening Friday 23rd March 2007

The Wilderness Foundation UK is pleased to extend this invitation on behalf of Gaia:



We are pleased to invite you to a Gaia Evening on Friday, 23 March 2007 with Dr. Martin von Hildebrand, Founder and Director of Gaia Amazonas and the Colombian Amazon (COAMA) programme, which received the 1999 Right Livelihood Award.


Drinks and buffet at Gaia House, 18 Well Walk, London, NW3 from 6pm (Nearest tube Hampstead Northern Line). A contribution of £7.00 will be appreciated.


7.30 pm Talk and Discussion at Burgh House, New End Square, London NW3 (Opposite Gaia House).


We do hope you can make it. RVSP to Guy Fisher on guy@gaianet.org or telephone us on 020 7428 0055.

WFUK and Ride Earth at One Life Live

The Wilderness Foundation was present at this years One Life Live exhibition, held at Olympia on the 2nd to 4th March 2007. We had a very productive time promoting the work of the charity with some excellent responses from visitors, many of whom were particularly interested in our experiential learning programmes.

The main reason for WFUK being at Olymia was to support Tom and Andy of Ride Earth. Regular readers of the blog may recall that Tom and Andy have very kindly chosen the Foundation to benefit from funds raised during their round-the-world Mountain Bike challenge. The guys will be departing from our shores in June, setting off into Europe on the first leg of their journey. Once again we thank them for their support. We will post regular updates on their progress on our website and you can also keep track of their travels on their dedicated website http://www.ride-earth.org.uk

Their is now a dedicated online giving page available for anybody wishing to sponsor Tom and Andy, with proceeds going directly to the Wilderness Foundation. Please visit http://www.justgiving.com/rideearth

Thanks to Tom and Andy for arranging a stand at Olympia and inviting us along. Thanks also to The Independent Newspaper who sponsored the event and donated the stand space free of charge.