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It will come as no surprise that Pen, as an explorer, is primarily concerned with the natural world (and our relationship with it), and the learning process for young people.
Environment
Pen’s greatest interest lies in helping to promote an understanding of the Arctic Ocean and its significance to the global community. In turn this has led to his quest to grasp as deep an understanding of climate change as he can, and to communicate in an engaging way the seriousness of the implications of a disappearing North Pole ice cap to the widest possible audience, in order to encourage policy-makers at inter-governmental to act - hence his working relationship with WWF.
With the total disappearance of the North Pole ice cap predicted by some scientists in as little as five years, due to global warming, Pen sees it almost as his personal responsibility to use his first-hand knowledge of the sea ice on the Arctic Ocean to do his bit to bridge the gap in understanding between the scientists working in this field and the policy-makers and general public back home.
Pen has close links with the world’s foremost research organisations focused on the issue of global climate change, notably with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Met Office, the University of Cambridge, the US Navy’s Naval Postgraduate School, and the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction & Research, together with a range of other concerned governmental, non-governmental and charitable organisations.
Education
Much of Pen’s charitable work has revolved around education, especially of children. His central interest is in promoting the value of outdoor education and, more specifically, of introducing children to situations where they can learn how to assess and manage risk so that such experience informs their capacity and attitude in later life.
 Pen is a patron of Moor Trees, a woodland charity working in and around Devon and Cornwall. The charity’s community-based approach focuses on biodiversity, people and the environment. They create and restore native woodland, grow trees from locally-collected seed in local community tree nurseries, provide education and training and promote climate change awareness.
To date Pen has focused his passion and energies into the causes run by the organisations below.
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Hadley Centre Global Climate Change & Carbon Neutrality
With the total disappearance of the North Pole ice cap predicted by some scientists in as little as fifteen years, due to global warming, Pen sees it almost as his personal responsibility to use his first-hand knowledge of the sea ice on the Arctic Ocean to do his bit to bridge the gap in understanding between the scientists working in this field and the policy-makers and general public back home.
Pen has close links with the world’s foremost research organisations focused on the issue of global climate change, notably with the Met Office, and the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, together with a range of other concerned governmental, commercial and charitable groups. As part of his ongoing work on these issues he gave the key-note speech on global climate change at the J8 Summit at Edinburgh in July 2005 - and has given a series of lectures on this theme around the country.
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Royal Geographical Society
The Society, based in London, is a centre for geographical learning of world renown which has in recent years undertaken a major programme of modernisation, including opening up its resources to the public.
An active Fellow since reading Geography at University College London, Pen has supported a wide range of the Society's activities over the last 20 years, most recently enabling his South Pole sledging partner, Simon Murray, together with The Times, to raise £280,000 for the restoration and digital cataloguing of the priority items within the Society's internationally important polar heritage collection.
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The British Schools Exploring Society (BSES)
The British Schools Exploring Society is a unique and precious national resource. In combining scientific research in extreme environments, through the vehicle of an expertly organised expedition, it offers unrivalled personal development opportunities for young people hungry to fulfil their potential as future players and leaders. Not only does BSES deserve our support, but we'll all be reaping the rewards of its inspirational work in the years ahead. Never has our country been more in need of an organisation such as this.
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The Real World Learning Campaign
Pen is passionately supportive of this national campaign aimed at turning round the current dire situation where minimal learning is taking place outside the classroom - whether it be lessons conducted in the school grounds, day visits into the local environment, or field trips at residential centres. If almost all learning continues to be done within the relatively sterile confines of a classroom, the opportunities to engage the genuine interest of the pupils in almost all subjects is drastically diminished – with the added risk that the pupils find the learning process boring because of its disconnection and apparent irrelevance to the real world outside the classroom for which we are trying to prepare them.
A recent contribution to the campaign by Pen was to flag up the whole issue on an Election Special documentary broadcast by Channel 4 prior to the election. Encouragingly, the government is reviewing the House of Commons Education & Skills Committee's Second Report entitled ‘Education Outside The Classroom' with a view to addressing the causes of the problem and to formally incorporating this approach to learning within the national curriculum.
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The Muscular Help Foundation
In his role as a polar guide, Pen was approached by Michael McGrath, who wanted to know if it could be arranged for him to make an expedition on foot to the North Geographic Pole - he has the increasingly debilitating condition of muscular dystrophy. Michael managed to trek the last 150 metres to the Pole in 2002, enduring considerable physiological difficulties … and went on to cover the penultimate 5km being man-hauled to the South Geographic Pole, walking on foot the final 310 metres in 2004.
Michael set up the Foundation to enable better understanding of the condition by researchers and public alike - and he and Pen will be doing double-act presentations about the idea of fulfilling one's potential to corporate audiences in support of the Foundation.
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West of England School and College – For The Visually Impaired
The School - the only such facility in the South-West with an expanding catchment area beyond – is a beacon of excellence in a darkened world for the children who are educated here.
Pen has become involved since a visit to their sports day in 2003 when he discovered the extent of the challenges faced by the youngsters and the quality of life the staff enabled them all to experience. In 2004 he supported the launch of a £25,000 appeal to fund the specialist equipment and resources required for a new Soft Play Area – and happily, due to the tremendous efforts of the committed fund-raising team, the target was reached in mid-2005.
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