On June 23rd 2010, members of the Polar Vision team were invited to Buckingham Palace. The occasion was a lunch hosted by the President of Sightsavers - Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy.

The Princess is known for her work for the blind: she is Patron of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and of Action for Blind People as well as being President of Sightsavers International. The lunch was to celebrate Sightsavers’ 60th anniversary and recognize the organization’s great work around the world to eliminate avoidable blindness and the Polar Vision team was honored to be invited to attend.

Representing the Polar Vision team were (L-R) Andrew Cooney, Alan Lock and Garrick Hileman.

“It was sunny and warm again yesterday. We arrived at the Buckingham Palace gate, where as always there was a huge crowd gathered outside the gate. The changing of the guard was occurring just as we arrived, and the Royal Standard was raised indicating the Queen was in residence.

We presented our credentials to the guards and they let us right in. It was definitely exciting to be allowed inside the gate, looking back at all the people on the outside as we made our way towards the inner Palace courtyard.

We were led up a grand staircase and into a large, long, high ceilinged room that was very warm.

The room was beautiful, filled with incredible works of art, imposing mirrors, classical furniture. The art collection was incredible with works by the like of Vermeer, Rembrandt and Ruben.

Lord Crisp, the Chairman of Sightsavers, began to speak. He talked about the great works that Sightsavers had done over the past 60 yrs, thanked the supporters present and of course, the Princess.

The Princess then spoke briefly and proceeded to greet all of us individually. She had a kind, warm energy and we were able to discuss the Polar Vision expedition with her and she was very enthusiastic and supportive of our ambitions.

We met many of the people that work closely with Sightsavers, and they are truly an organization with a global reach with representatives from Asia, Africa and I think that there was also one of the Saudi Arabian Princes in attendance who supported Sightsavers.

After about an hour of meeting and greeting, we moved into an adjacent room that had a catered lunch and view of a huge lush green lawn which plays host to the famous Buckingham Palace garden parties.

It was truly a great experience, and we were heartened by all the words of support we got from the people that we met - hopefully we’ll have the chance to come back and show them the pictures from Antarctica!”

This was a really wonderful opportunity for the team to continue to spread the word about the aims and ambitions of the expedition and a day at Buckingham Palace is of course very hard to say no to!

However the final word for this blog entry should really go to Princess Alexandra, who was kind enough to say the following about the project:
“The Polar Vision team are taking on a huge challenge for a very worthwhile cause. I wish them every success in their endeavour, and I believe this expedition will be an inspiration to blind and partially sighted people around the world.”
HRH Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy

Well, its summer and all of the Polar vision team are scattered across the US and the rest of the world. Alongside our jobs and studies we are all staying fit and trying to get the support we need for the expedition.

Although our planned challenge is over a year away, the huge amount of planning and fundraising still left to do is very daunting – not to mention the trek itself. Only Andrew Cooney – our resident Polar Explorer and Guinness Record Holder – has been in this situation before. I can however draw some parallels with the feeling of anticipation and sheer volume of preparation that I encountered in the run up to my Atlantic Row.

Back in 2008, I was training and planning for this 3000 mile voyage with the same sense of combined excitement and dread. Excitement of course for the challenge of taking on something new, but also a sense of dread from the long list of things that had to be completed before we even left the marina.

Certainly all the team can appreciate this feeling, whether it is Andrew Jensen and Rich training for an Iron Man triathlon, or Garrick tackling another peak. It is all about the preparation.

The fact is, one of the biggest fears in all our hearts is failing to get to the start line in the first place, whether that is caused by failing to raise sufficient funds, illness prior to the expedition or something else unforeseen. All we can do is put 100% of our efforts into the project and believe in the motto of the SAS “Who Dares Wins”.

After all, if getting to the South Pole was easy, I guess there would be no challenge in it!