ABOUT TOM
Adventurer. Conservationist. Expedition leader.
I climb mountains to tell stories that move people to act — for wildlife, for the planet, and for the purpose in their own lives.
MY STORY
“Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”
— Les Brown
When I was 11, I travelled to Zimbabwe and became completely obsessed with the wildlife and the wild places. I knew I wanted to do something to help.
We visited the Rose of Charity in Victoria Falls, an orphanage my parents supported, home to children who had lost their parents to HIV and AIDS. When I got home I ran the first fundraiser of my life, and we have supported them as a family ever since.
School was harder. I’m dyslexic and dyscalculic, and while I thrived in sport and outside the classroom, exams were a constant struggle. In 2013 one teacher told me that university was not for someone of my academic ability. I watched my friends head off to university while I was left behind, low on confidence and unsure of what I could achieve.
Then I heard a talk by Les Brown, the American motivational speaker, whose story was a lot like mine. One line changed my life: “Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” I realised I had let that teacher’s opinion define me.
I found out you could study conservation. Without the grades, I relied on an interview and a personal statement to earn a place on a wildlife conservation foundation course at the University of the West of England. I passed that, went on to a BSc (Hons), and then an MSc in Advanced Wildlife Conservation.
WHY I EXPLORE
From polar dreams to the high mountains.
I’ve been obsessed with exploration all my life — the stories of Scott, Amundsen, Bear Grylls and others. When I was six I saw a talk by Tom Avery, fresh from his South Pole expedition, and decided then that I wanted to do something like that.
Later I met the Belgian polar explorer Dixie Dansercoer. For three years we worked towards the North Pole together: he sat with me on sponsor calls, mentored me and trained me in Belgium near his home. We were due to head to Greenland to walk the Arctic Circle Trail when Covid hit. Dixie then left to cross the Greenland ice sheet, where he fell into a crevasse and we lost him. Losing a friend and mentor was a sobering and very sad moment, and it shaped my outlook on adventure.
I shifted my focus to the mountains, and brought my two passions together: exploration, and fundraising that gives every trip a purpose. As an adventure fundraiser I’ve raised over £100,000 for wildlife conservation through my expeditions and partnerships.
My goal is to keep raising funds for conservation, to experience more incredible places, and to advocate for a more sustainable, ecocentric future. And to give other people what that quote gave me: a way to stop other people’s opinions defining them. That’s why I take people to Kilimanjaro — to show them how strong they really are.
TODAY
Purpose, at altitude.
By day I’m Head of Trusts & Foundations at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Before that I was Trusts & Foundations Manager at the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.
Beyond the office I lead teams up Kilimanjaro, climb in the high mountains of Central Asia, speak to organisations about risk and resilience, and host the Build Your Purpose podcast.
AT A GLANCE
The short version
FUNDRAISING
Over £100,000 raised for wildlife conservation
CONSERVATION
Head of Trusts & Foundations, Ol Pejeta Conservancy
EDUCATION
MSc Advanced Wildlife Conservation
LEADERSHIP
Three Kilimanjaro summits · two teams led in 2026, 100% home safe
EXPEDITIONS
Razdelnaya 6,148m · Peak Lenin attempt 7,134m
PODCAST
Host of Build Your Purpose · 27 episodes
PARTNERS
Christopher Ward Challenger · Páramo Ambassador
ENDURANCE
Virtual London Marathon dragging a 12kg tyre · 9 hrs 48 mins
THE JOURNEY SO FAR
Milestones
Age 11
First trip to Zimbabwe — and my first fundraiser, for the Rose of Charity orphanage in Victoria Falls.
2013
Told by a teacher that university wasn’t for someone of my academic ability.
2015
Started a foundation course in wildlife conservation at the University of the West of England.
2018
Graduated with a BSc (Hons) from the University of the West of England.
2019
MSc in Advanced Wildlife Conservation, University of the West of England.
2018–2021
Three years preparing for the North Pole with polar explorer Dixie Dansercoer.
2020
Lockdown challenges: the Virtual London Marathon dragging a 12kg tyre (9 hrs 48 mins), then a “tyre-athlon” — an Olympic-distance triathlon towing two car tyres.
2021
First summit of Kilimanjaro, via the Machame Route. Dixie Dansercoer lost in a crevasse fall in Greenland.
2022
Planned North Pole trek for the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, put on hold by the war in Ukraine.
2024
Peak Lenin, Pamir Mountains: summited Razdelnaya (6,148m) and turned back from the summit in a whiteout. Launched the Build Your Purpose podcast.
2026
Led two Project Purpose teams to the summit of Kilimanjaro — via Machame and via Lemosho — for my second and third summits. Joined Ol Pejeta Conservancy as Head of Trusts & Foundations in March.
LOCKDOWN, 2020
Marathons, tyres and triathlons.
During lockdown I ran the Virtual London Marathon dragging a 12kg tyre — 9 hours 48 minutes. Then came the “tyre-athlon”: an Olympic-distance triathlon towing two car tyres, in a kayak behind me on the swim, in a trailer behind the bike, and dragged on the run.
WORK WITH TOM