While many of our team and patients take on enormous challenges- from paragliding in South Africa to running marathons across Europe – this challenge is just a little bit different…

This month, one of our patients, Viv, is taking part in an all female 100km trek through the Akshayuk Pass on Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle. Now that really is outside of your comfort zone!

Led by professional adventurer and gender equality advocate Debra Searle MVO MBE, the trip will be 18 days long and temperatures will average around -15 degrees. The expedition is organised by car leasing company LeasePlan as part of their ongoing diversity programme. The team aims to challenge the gender bias’s we all unconsciously carry and prove that we are all capable of taking on big challenges and achieving anything we want to achieve. While a lot of factors inhibiting women in the work place are external – from childcare issues to sexism – some factors are internal and Viv and her team want to inspire women to overcome them.

The women who make up the team are not professional adventurers, but have been training hard to prepare for peaks, valleys and pulling all their own supplies. In comparison to something like this, training for a marathon or triathlon is a lot easier as you don’t have to take the weather into account. But the women of the LeasePlan expedition have had to train for sub-zero temperatures so have been practising their skills in Tesco’s freezer warehouse!

You can find all of Viv’s blogs about her preparation for the trip here as well as blogs from all the women involved. You can also find out more about the challenge on their website here and on the Facebook page.

Everyone at The Forge will be cheering Viv and the rest of her team on and we wish them all the very best on this grand adventure!