Testimonials

I was a member of the Cascades expedition 2008 and led peer led expeditions to the Dolomites 2009 and Corsica 2010.
The cascades expedition was an unbelievable experience! I met amazing people and completing such tough objectives greatly increased my confidence in my ability to take on difficult challenges. The fantastic experience of the cascades and the encouragement of the team leaders inspired me to lead a peer-led expedition to the Dolomites the following year. This was an all-girls(!) expedition to complete challenging Via Ferrata and the whole team felt extremely proud of what we managed to achieve under our own leadership.
I hope to continue to do a number of expeditions both in the UK and further afield, and Leading Edge Expeditions has given me the confidence, skills and inspiration to achieve this.

Thank you!
Max had such a wonderful experience in Alaska and we have thoroughly enjoyed the past month and a half listening to him recount your incredible adventure.
We would like to thank-you all for taking such care of him, allowing him to partake safely in this life changing experience.
He is an extremely lucky young man and he would do it all again tomorrow!

With Best Wishes


Steve and Kathy Byrne

I went in 89 and can highly recommend it.....changed my life.........I think for the better!

I loved the chance to work with children in local schools, it really made me appreciate the education i received in the UK. I also made life long friends on the expedition and i can't wait to return.

At the end of this summer Sam Leach, Tom Nichols and myself embarked on an adventure to explore and climb virgin peaks in the Torugart-too area of Kyrgyzstan; they summited 3 virgin peaks and completed a 2nd accent by a new route.

Get inspired!
The remarkable thing about our trip is, well, nothing! Just three mates getting out there and having fun. We are average climbers, with a bit of ambition, creativity and drive. What is amazing and exciting is that the step from everyday life and setting off on an adventure of a lifetime is smaller than you imagine. The hardest step is deciding that you’re actually going to do it; everything else will fall into place. I hope writing this will inspire you to take those tentative steps into planning and going on a trip. The experience will be one you recite to your grandchildren, and look back upon affectionately. Set your ambitions high. Don’t listen to your self-doubt. Remember; there is no try; there is only do or do not.

I went on two expeditions as a team member,
India 92
Ecuador 95

and four as a leader:
Mexico 96
Indonesia 97
India 98
Ecuador 2007

The effect of Leading Edge expeditions on my life is impossible to overstate. When I first went to India I was a little shy and under-confident. My time on expeditions provided dozens of lifelong friends and a host of leadership, time management, stress management and decision making strategies and experience. Thanks in no small part to Leading Edge I have gone on to travel the world and succeed in an extremely competitive career.

I took part in the following expeds; Kenya summer 99/summer 2001/ easter and summer 2002/ summer 2007 - Taking part in these expeditions has meant the world to me, I am still in touch with people from each of them. I learnt more about the issues facing the developing world and large multi-national charities from talking to our hosts and temporarily living there than I ever did from the media. DES also sent me on my BELA (Basic Expedition Leader Award) course which means that I am able to help young people work towards their D of E awards and hopefully improve their lives and attitude towards the world. I also met my husband on the course so for that I am eternally grateful!

I went on the Trans Andes expedition in 2009. It was a fun experience and I'm still in touch with a few people from the trip. Since then the DES have subsidised training courses I've attended, and I have just returned from a self-planned cycle touring expedition to Oslo, that I went on with a friend from Ecuador. I always have plans for future ventures and the DES are always very helpful when it comes to making them happen.

I went to Ecuador 2007, Cascades 2008 and Dolomites 2009 (peer led). All have dramatically changed my life, my confidence has drastically improved, I have met fantastic people, I have opened up a wealth of opportunities for myself and have seen and done things my friends could only dream of doing. I will never quite be able to describe how I felt on the summit of Mount Rainier and long to tackle more mountains.

I have been involved in international work (charitable and linking projects) in the past. However the breadth, complexity and effectiveness of the projects that I observed and worked with ( in Kenya with Leading Edge Expeditions) were quite breathtaking. The positive difference being made to so many lives is profound; Martyn and Josie Hastings deserve enormous credit.

It should also be understood that the lives being impacted upon so beneficially are not only to Kenyan and/or disadvantaged people. Hundreds of UK citizens of all ages through direct contact and thousands indirectly, have had their eyes opened to the reality of life in a developing country and have been given meaningful opportunities to take effectual action to help improve this for a large community. Most of these are young people at the brink of adult life and what they experience, understand and do empowers them as stronger, more active citizens than would be the case without these ventures. This is not even to mention the fabulous adventures they encounter during the assent of Mt. Kenya, games trails, white water rafting and the travel and immerson in a very different country to their own.

The experience has certainly enriched my life and aspirations. I now hold a powerful desire to do all that I can to support the sustainability and development of the Kenyan projects and to broaden the channels of opportunity for young people to become involved. As International School Coordinator for Budmouth College I am fortunate in having some capability to do so. I would invite anyone reading this to become involved.

India- 1992: I joined John, Josi and Andrew (Monkey) on John's first expedition to India in 1992. I was 17yrs old and it was my first real trip away from home. 5 weeks or rafting, climbing and adventure ahead of me.

I could never have imagined what impact that one trip would have on my life. Not only did I make friendships which will last a lifetime I became the person I am today.

I owe a large part of my success today to the Dorset Expeditionary Society.

A heartfelt thank you.

Ed Flower
Founder and Managing Director - ThinkShed (www.thethinkshed.com)

"The Dorset Expeditionary Society, of which I am proud to be Patron, offers transforming and life-enhancing experiences to young people through participating in various challenging expeditions, devised and led by outstanding and experienced leaders. It has launched many successful expeditions, but few have made such challenging demands on the mental and physical toughness of the youthful participants, the youngest of whom was only fifteen, as the appropriately names The Gates of the Arctic. The successful outcome owes a lot to the qualities of its leaders and to the selection process and training programme which they devised. They consistently maintained high morale throughout the group, in spite of periods of danger caused by the severity of the routes they had chosen, both for trekking and paddling phases. Indeed they were the first youth expedition to attempt the technically, physically and mentally demanding mountain trek. They were also the first group to navigate the 400 miles of the Arctic Noatek River, which they accomplished in 13 days of arduous paddling through a wilderness in 24 hours of daylight.

I commend the expedition, which shows that under firm leadership, properly trained and well motivated young people can accomplish feats of endurance far beyond their expectations. I am indeed proud of our young expeditioners and grateful to those who lend their time and experience to lead them".