If there is one organisation that made Arch2Arctic happen, then it’s the Jack Petchey Foundation. When I pitched the challenge to the board right back in the early days, using a very raw, unfinished, homemade video, they got behind the idea and became our first partner.

For those of you who haven’t heard of JPF, it was created by Sir Jack Petchey in 1999 as a vehicle for raising the aspirations of young people, to provide an opportunity to develop their potential, and to encourage them to play a full part in society. Their support is focussed in the London and Essex area. It has grown into a huge operation with different competitions, challenges and awards in a wide range of areas to help young people develop and grow.

Sir Jack Petchey’s motto is “If you think you can, you can” and that certainly resonates with our challenge and how we’ve approached it. As well as raising funds for the Scouts, we hope that we can inspire young people to believe they can achieve anything they put their mind to.

We would specially like to thank the CEO at JPF, Trudy Kilcullen MBE who has been a staunch supporter from the start.