Please please take 3 minutes to read my story and see what I will be up to over the next few months. I don't post a huge amount so it really is important to me that all my friends see this. Thank you

So about the challenge ......

I will be spending 8 days and nights on a survival challenge in the Arctic Circle!  I will be joining 13 total strangers as we fly to Stockholm, then another flight into the circle and arrive at a log cabin after a jeep ride somewhere near the Arctic ice lakes.  No phones, no electricity and just a log burner for warmth for the first couple of nights to get acclimatised.

The average temperature for February is around  -20 in the day and can get to -45 at night (and thats without wind chill and no daylight)   Oh, and I will be camping, sleeping in snow holes, building an igloo and cutting down trees to make a shelter for the night.

There is nothing easy or comfortable about this challenge. Training has already started, I have regular PT sessions to build muscle and stamina ready for the cross country part of the expedition.  Fitness is key and unfortunately something I am lacking in.  Mentally I am totally focused, physically I am currently a country mile away at the moment! 

Why?
Five months ago a few friends and I went on a motorcycle tour of the French battle fields (some of you may have seen my video attached).
What started off being an adrenalin fuelled, fun weekend with some close pals soon became an overwhelming, heartfelt and most of all sobering road trip.

I had no idea what to expect as we arrived at the Etaples war grave memorial site an hour into our ride.  The grave stones went on and on almost as far as the eye could see and were in perfect formation.  At that moment it hit me just how enormous the loss was (to both sides).
It made me think about the loss for the families more than the soldiers and how would my family have coped in the same situation.
Next we arrived at the La-Boisselle near the Somme at the site of the Lochnagar Crater.  This was the site of what was and still is the loudest ever man made sound. 60,000 lbs of explosive detonated throwing the mud and earth 4000 feet into the air, the explosion was heard in London! Devastatingly, 6380 men lost their lives that day, 20,000 were to lose theirs throughout this single assault .

We arrived in Ypres-Leper late in the afternoon after a long days riding where we set up camp and walked into town for a few well earned beers.  I had been told that every night at 8am come rain or shine, a memorial is held  to remember the fallen and a two minute silence is held.  What I didn't realise was just how many people attend EVERY day and how this was going to make me feel.
The local fire brigade play 'The Last Post' on a bugle each night, rain or shine, regardless wether there is one person watching or a thousand this tradition has never been missed since the spring of 1929.  Four bugles were donated by the Royal British Legion to be played everyday to commemorate the fallen.  This is a truly moving spectacle, I don't think there was a dry eye anywhere in the humbled crowd.

The following morning we rode into Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium.
This is the largest war cemetery in the world with over 11,900 servicemen buried here.  Horrifyingly, more than 8,370 of these soldiers are still unidentified.  What brought this home to me is that there are potentially 8370 families out there that never got to say a true goodbye to their loved ones, their fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles.  All who gave their lives for our freedom. 
There are various organisations out there that specifically help our wounded heroes and help bring them home, fix them up, try and heal wounds, Help for Heroes being the most commonly recognised one and they truly do remarkable work for the soldiers but .........
My Arctic Survival Challenge is to raise money not only for the soldiers but also for the families, to help support the families of the soldiers, to help parents, wives children to come to terms with what war has done to their loved ones.
We all buy poppies, some put a few coppers in the charity tub in the local shop, but what I am trying to do is to raise both money and awareness for the Royal British Legion who cannot continue this valuable support on poppies alone.

This is not just about past history either,  this is also about today, all the time loved ones are lost or injured due to war, families will need support.
The legion carry out fantastic work and really do need all the support they can get.

I don’t have a personal story of my own about having lost a loved one but I have seen first hand what this has done to others and the enormous loss of two world wars and battles there after.

Still to this day bodies are being found in the fields. 

It is impossible for this not to have an effect on you.

Please help me hit my goal of £1000 to help this incredible charity continue in its work to help affected families.