All posts by Jeremy

Jeremy Gane is a founding director of Gane and Marshall and Charity Challenge. He has been involved in the travel industry in various guises for 24 years and during that time helped manage a number of high-profile events including the 2009 Celebrity Kilimanjaro Climb in aid of Comic Relief, and, more recently, the Extreme Classroom series of events as broadcast by the BBC. Jeremy's passion is mountain climbing.

The first official ascent of Kilimanjaro’s North Face – departing in two days!

On 26 June, 5 adventurous climbers will depart from London on a flight to Kilimanjaro. They are to attempt to summit Kilimanjaro via its northern flank, in what will be the first official summit attempt via the newly opened North Face Route.

The group will be raising funds for the Special Boat Service Association, and are being supported by the Hogg Robinson Group.
Keep an eye on our blog over the coming weeks, as we provide regular updates from the climbers as they progress towards the summit of Africa’s highest mountain. Continue reading The first official ascent of Kilimanjaro’s North Face – departing in two days!

Oman School Expedition, Nov 2016 – Trip Report

In November 2016, six special needs students travelled to Oman on a life-changing expedition organised by Gane and Marshall. Here, Rich Berry from Sky College, one of the two schools involved, recounts the experience:

As part of our aspiration to provide life changing experiences we embarked on an overseas visit to the Middle East. Staff and a group of four students travelled four thousand miles to Oman where they trekked through the mountains and deserts whilst carrying out roles to develop both personal skills as well as team skills. The senior leadership team had difficult decisions to make as over a dozen students showed an interest in the challenge, but only four places were available. Several students from year nine to eleven completed small challenges along the way as part of the selection process. Continue reading Oman School Expedition, Nov 2016 – Trip Report

School Kayaking Adventure in the Ardeche Gorge

At the beginning of this month, Gane and Marshall ran the Ardeche School Challenge for special needs school students. Taking place from 1st to 7th July, the expedition involved a thrilling journey by kayak down the Ardeche Gorge, with plenty of white water and plenty of spills! Then the group tried canyoning with some amazing dives into remote rock pools, and finally they went on a high ropes course (rather like an extreme version of Go Ape, was one comment!)

Ardeche Gorge - School Challenge

I was lucky enough to be able to join the group (23 in all) for the kayaking. We flew out on British Airways to Marseilles and then travelled in a convoy of three eight seater minibuses to Pont Vallon – a lively little town at the heart of the Ardeche adventure region. We set up our own tents on arrival and thereafter the group camped and prepared virtually all their own meals themselves. Managing not only the adventurous activities but also the flights, the transfers and the camping and cooking was all part of the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’ template that we worked to. Flying abroad and seeing a foreign country for the first time was a wonderful eye-opener to many of the students. For all of us – teachers, mentors, outdoor leaders and students – this was an inspirational and challenging holiday. Each of the students on the trip had come from often exceptionally difficult backgrounds. They had been excluded from the main school system for behavioural issues and were several years behind with their education. But in an expedition environment, they performed admirably as a close-knit team.

Ardeche Gorge - School Challenge

Phil Worgan, our engaging main leader, founded the event after several trips to the Ardeche with small groups, seeing it as the ideal venue for outdoors learning. ‘Learning Outside the Classroom’ has become a recognised way of working with special needs students to help them improve academically and socially. Our School Challenges are designed with these goals in mind: connecting to the curriculum through outdoor experiences, developing socially and as a team, nurturing resilience, increasing self-esteem, and developing skills that will be useful in seeking work or further education after a student’s school years end.

Ray Mears will be following exactly the same route as us on ITV1 at 8pm on Monday. I’m sure he won’t overturn and disappear under the white-water as I did twice. But then he won’t have a team of brilliant special needs students to pull him out and retrieve his kayak either!

Jeremy Gane

Ardeche Gorge - School Challenge

Gane and Marshall will be running one or more Ardeche Challenges during the first week of July 2017. The cost including BA flights will be £884 per person. The trips will once again be led by Phil Worgan. Our kayaking leader will be – as for this year – the amazing sport kayaker Chris Brain. There are various ways in which you can take part: recommend our Ardeche Challenge to a school you are in contact with, send a team from your school, sponsor a special needs student whose family/school cannot raise the funds to send that student. Subject to the safety checks, you could join the challenge as a mentor. We have found that most students want to join in these adventures and are keen to start preparing months ahead. Their preparations involve not only getting fit and learning to set up tents and to kayak, but also winning their place on the team as result of improving behaviour in school.

For more information about our Ardeche challenges, or our school challenges more generally, contact info@ganeandmarshall.com.

Ardeche Gorge - School Challenge

What’s new in Africa? New adventures: Kilimanjaro North Face, Mt Kenya bike safari, Ethiopia photo tour, and more!

This year we’ll be launching several new safari and adventure programmes in Africa, including an original biking route around Mount Kenya; an entirely new climbing route to the summit of Kilimanjaro; a special peak baggers’ itinerary to climb Africa’s three highest mountains; and a photographers’ tour to Ethiopia, led by expert photographer Simon Stafford. We also have lots of exciting new developments outside of Africa to share with you.
Continue reading What’s new in Africa? New adventures: Kilimanjaro North Face, Mt Kenya bike safari, Ethiopia photo tour, and more!

Our guide to Botswana’s safari parks and game reserves: private vs public

Botswana’s safari parks and game reserves:

private vs public

Botswana is unique among African safari destinations in that much of its wilderness has been divided into private concessions. While such concessions are common elsewhere in Africa, only in Botswana do they constitute such a large proportion of the country’s protected land (almost 50%). Unlike in Kenya or Tanzania, for instance, where the major public parks are huge and the private reserves comparatively small, in Botswana you can confine yourself almost entirely to private concessions and still experience the best wilderness areas that the country has to offer. This has its advantages and disadvantages, and it’s important to have a good idea of the differences between Botswana’s private and public reserves when planning your safari, particularly if you intend to visit the Okavango Delta.

Continue reading Our guide to Botswana’s safari parks and game reserves: private vs public

North Pole Expedition

How you can sign up, train and prepare for a North Pole expedition?

We invite you to come to the prestigious Royal Geographical Society for an information presentation by celebrated polar guide Alan Chambers MBE.

Alan is a polar adventurer who received the MBE for ‘exceptional leadership in extreme adversity’ when he led the first successful unsupported British Geographic North Pole expedition, walking 672 nautical miles in temperatures as low as -65°C dragging a sledge the weight of a baby elephant. In preparation for his expedition Alan lived with a family of Inuits, indigenous to the Arctic for between 1 and 2 months every year for 5 years.

Alan has since led top business leaders & chief executives to the North Pole in virtually every North Pole season since 2002. The North Pole challenge helped them explore and reflect on their own leadership capabilities.

Jeremy Gane FRGS, and also a director of Charity Challenge, has been researching and developing North Pole expeditions with Alan and Simon Albert of Charity Challenge for the last five years. Gane and Marshall has teamed up with Charity Challenge to offer these exclusive North Pole expeditions, guided by Alan Chambers.

The Information Day will take place on Friday 19th June 2015 from 2 to 4:30pm in the Lowther Room at the Royal Geographic Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR. We have arranged for the main presentation to run from 14:30-15:15. Tea and coffee will be served from 14:00.

Click here for the full North Pole invitation and meeting details.

North Pole Expedition 2015 North Pole Expedition Sign