THE POLAR ACADEMY PATRON'S DINNER

Broomhall House, near Charleston in Fife is the ancestral home of the Bruce family, descendants of King Robert the Bruce. It is also the historical home of The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, and what a truly stunning home it is.

I had the privilege of being invited to Broomhall House on the evening of Thursday 18th January 2018, for The Polar Academy’s annual Patron’s Dinner. It was an outstanding evening.

Our host for the night was the eldest son of the 11th Earl, and heir to the title, Charles Edward Bruce, Lord Bruce, a very charming, caring and humorous host.

Following our arrival and canapés, Lord Bruce led us on a hugely interesting tour of his home, which is festooned with artefacts from down the ages and he intrigued and amused us with incredible stories from his childhood about being brought up and schooled in such a stunning environment.

The tour finished in the formal dining room, which featured the most amazing, carved mahogany fireplace. So, you can imagine our surprise and delight when Lord Bruce explained that this masterpiece was not what it first appeared. It was, in fact, comprised of the two ends of an ancient bed, which the Lord’s ancestors had rescued from Falkland Palace during its occupation by Cromwell’s troops.

KING ROBERT THE BRUCE

During the dinner Lord Bruce even took King Robert the Bruce’s very own battle sword from its display case and laid it on a large sideboard for us all to get a better look. Everyone was shocked at the sheer size of it.

THE MAIN EVENT

And then, it was on to the main event; the reason why 50 or so of us had been invited to such a prestigious event, The Polar Academy Patron's Dinner.

Our host now, was the awe-inspiring Craig Mathieson, Scotland’s legendary polar explorer, who led the first Scottish expeditions to both the north and south poles.

Craig is the Royal Scottish Geographic Society’s Explorer in Residence, a role formerly held by Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the south pole; Captain Robert Falcon Scott, leader of the famous Discovery Expedition; and of course, arguably the greatest leader of the 20th century, our namesake (and one of my long-admired heroes), Sir Ernest Shackleton.

On a previous visit to Shackleton Technologies’ offices, Craig told us about the time he was asked to sign the official register, as the new Explorer in Residence and how, as he went to write, he saw the beautiful, scroll-written signatures of those three pioneers of polar exploration mentioned above, where he was about to put his “scribble” (his words not mine). He explained how the mere sight of their names, each of them, people he had admired since childhood, in the same book as his, drove him to tears of pride. He was reduced to tears again just recalling that moment to tell us about it, such is the genuine respect of this humble, astonishing man.

THE POLAR ACADEMY

Craig founded his charity, The Polar Academy to help what he refers to as the “invisible kids” in our high schools and those of you reading this will know, that we have all been to school with these kids, we all recognise them.

After speaking for many years at schools all over the country, Craig noticed that there were three main groups of children; the high achievers – confident, strong in academic studies, sport and typically with well-defined career paths; the low achievers – lack of interest or focus, disruptive in class and a group where lots of investment is made available to help; then there were the ones Craig refers to as “invisible kids” – low self-esteem, zero confidence, never answering questions (even though they know the answers) and more often than not, they were constantly bullied. Yet, they were “invisible”, because they just accepted what life had given them. They never stuck their heads above the metaphorical parapet. They never complained and so no-one ever helped, or even noticed them. Except Craig Mathieson!

The Polar Academy works with schools to identify these “invisible kids” and then Craig, with support from Polar Academy Patrons and volunteers, selects a maximum group of 20 kids aged from 14 to 17 years and that's when the magic happens.

Once the right group of boys and girls has been identified, Craig arranges to visit their parents, partly to introduce himself and The Polar Academy, but primarily, in the matter-of-fact way that only Craig can, he tells these parents, “I want to take your child to the north pole”.

Wow, can you imagine being a parent, hearing that from someone you have never met in your life, but at the same time, trusting every word he says and truly believing in him?

THE TOUGHEST YOUTH TRAINING IN EUROPE

Craig and a group of dedicated volunteers, then spend an entire year training these kids, preparing them to survive in, no, conquer, one of the world’s most hostile and dangerous lands.

He teaches them how to ski, how to build shelter, how to prepare food, how to navigate, with and without a compass, how to lead, how to support your team mates, how to respect and be respected.

During the actual expedition, each of these children will be expected to navigate to their destination on their own and by that time, they will all be more than capable of that task and all this while towing their own sledge, laden with all their personal supplies and weighing around 75 kilos (that’s just under 12 stone in old money! That’s a full-grown adult!).

To prepare these students for this astonishing feat of endurance, The Polar Academy trains the team by tying lorry tyres to each of them and getting them to march, for endless hours along the beach at Tentsmuir Point in Fife. There are videos showing each of them in a kayak, in a swimming pool, Craig standing at the side of them. He hands them a rope and tells them to tie different types of knots, while they're under the water and then he promptly capsizes their kayak. When the kids have completed their tasks, they raise their hand and Craig turns the kayak back to the upright position.

The training is so intense and arduous, that it has been referred to as "the toughest youth training in Europe"

AARON'S STORY

After dinner, Craig introduced Aaron, one of the 2017 students.

In front of us stood a tall, handsome and confident young man, who engaged everyone in the room with his passion, his confidence and his piercing eye contact. But, it was not always so. Aaron had been an “invisible kid”, bullied at school and saying nothing about it. It was hard to believe this was the same person!

Aaron thanks everyone and takes his seat. Craig thanks him and without hesitation, turns to Aaron’s mum and asks if she could give her experience.

She tells us how bad it was for Aaron at school, the detail of which moves us all to tears, but then she drops the bombshell. The entire purpose of The Polar Academy. “I trusted Craig and The Polar Academy with my son, who struggled to make eye contact and had very little confidence” and what they returned to me, was a confident, powerful young adult, and I can’t ever thank them enough”.

NO COST TO THE CHILDREN OR THEIR FAMILIES

Let me be clear here, there is no financial cost for these children, zero! The Polar Academy, begs, borrows and steals all they can to ensure the future of their courses and expeditions. But, in Craig’s own words, “it is not free to the kids”, their “payback” is that when they return, they will be required to speak at school events, organised by The Polar Academy and their task, is to reach a minimum of 3000 other kids.

As Craig says, “when I visit schools and speak to these kids about my explorations, it’s just a story, nothing more, but when other kids like Aaron, speak to them, they see themselves, they understand Aaron's story and they feel better.”

THE PATRONS

The Polar Academy Patrons agree to a specific level of financial support for the charity, over an agreed period of years. It is a huge commitment and yet all of them go far beyond what is “agreed”. They are inspiring people and businesses in their own right and truly great to be around.

The Patron’s Dinner was one of the best nights I have ever spent in my life. Everyone knew its purpose was pure and simple fundraising. Craig is trying to attract new sponsors, new Patrons for his charity, The Polar Academy, so that they can help even more “invisible kids”.

Make no mistake in reading this, what Craig Mathieson and The Polar Academy do, is nothing short of remarkable! They take children with low prospects for the future and turn them into ambassadors! They are creating, right in front of our eyes the leaders of tomorrow!

We sat at dinner with Craig and the Patrons, some were businesses and some, private individuals, several have worked with Craig since day one and even before that. It would be great if, in the near future, Shackleton Technologies could join that proud and happy band of sponsors.

We are Shackleton for heaven’s sake, so watch this space!

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