Craig Mathieson is a polar explorer, motivational speaker and founder of The Polar Academy, a groundbreaking Scottish charity that helps young people build confidence, resilience and self-belief through adventure. He was recently awarded The Polar Medal in the King’s New Year’s Honours.
Craig has completed expeditions to both the North Pole and South Pole, including leading the first dedicated Scottish expedition to the South Pole in 2004. Having mentored a young person on a life-changing expedition to the North Pole two years later, Craig saw the extraordinary potential of these experiences and was determined that this would act as a catalyst to extend these opportunities. In 2013, the Polar Academy was born.
To date, the Polar Academy has worked with nearly 300 young people and their families. The programme deliberately seeks out “invisible kids”— young people who struggle with confidence, anxiety, bullying, bereavement or simply feeling overlooked. Over the course of an 18 month training programme, the teenagers on the programme prepare physically and mentally for an expedition to East Greenland, where they haul sleds across Arctic terrain and discover what they’re truly capable of.
Our conversation centres on Craig’s journey to founding The Polar Academy and the work it does to transform the lives of young people struggling with trauma, low confidence and mental health challenges. Craig speaks with honesty, humour and compassion as he shares stories from his own experiences at school, the inspiration that first sparked his dream of becoming an explorer and how that ultimately led him to create a programme that helps young people discover their own strength. We explore themes of belief, resilience, family support and the life-changing impact of nature as Craig reflects on why so many young people feel hidden and what it truly takes to help them thrive. From trekking across Greenland to searching for Yetis on the west coast of Scotland, this conversation is both moving and inspiring — a powerful reminder of what can happen when someone believes in you, before you believe in yourself.
Learn more about The Polar Academy:
https://www.thepolaracademy.org/
Facebook: @thepolaracademy
Instagram: @thepolaracademy
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