** Team BearBabe came 3rd in the 2010 Polar Challenge!!

See www.polar-challenge.com for race coverage.

Please keep donating!!! THANK YOU!**

Final Fundraising Hurrah!!

BBQ on the 24th July in Southampton - see Events Page for details!

Number of Tickets

Single £5.00 Pair £10.00 Triple £15.00

£10,000 to raise, 18 months to do it in, 10 extreme challenges to complete, 2 feet to use, 1 sled to pull!!

All for thousands of Heroes!

Can you help?

I'm Leanne Franklin-Smith (the (polar) Bear Babe!) and I'm using the 2010 Polar Challenge as an opportunity to test my physical stamina, mental endurance and to acheive something remarkable - raising lots of money for Help For Heroes! Help for Heroes is a relatively new charity, set up in 2007, but with a very real need and a long-overdue issue to bring to the attention of all of us. The charity aims to raise money to support and provide rehabilitation services and equipment for injured military personnel. The charity is non-political, instead focussing on providing a practical way for the general public to help provide the support desparately needed by those that have been injured in the various conflicts around the world, and their families. It's a cause very dear to my heart, and I hope that you will feel that it deserves your support too.

Team mate Chris Foot is having to endure the team name as we got together quite late in the day! However, it'll serve him right for complaining about having to race with a girl - he should think himself lucky I don't make him wear a pink snow suit - having said that he was a Royal Marine...... :-)

I need to find sponsorship, obtain donations and organise events to raise the £30,000 I've set as my goal (this website and all money raised goes to the charity, my entry fee to the race is separate, and will not be paid for using funds raised through here). Please help in any way you can (advice, offers of help, buy some BearBabe stuff, donate money or items to raffle/auction - all greatfully received!) - check out my support me and sponsors page!

The task that I've set myself is to compete in the Polar Challenge, which is a 320 nautical mile race from Resolute Bay in Northern Canada to the 1996 postion of the magnetic North Pole (see map below). The race is perfomed in three sections, with 2 resupply check points en-route. Described by Polar explorer and endurance expert Dr. Mike Stroud MBE as "The toughest challenge on Earth", it's an event that attracts a lot of media attention (great for the charity), and a certain type of person (it's going to be cold!)!

This website is designed to let you know about our entry in the 2010 Polar Challenge and our progress with the fundraising. I'm a research scientist with a particular interest in climate change and it's effects at high latitudes. My work has taken me to Alaska, Northern Canada, Sweden, Norway and Spitzbergen, many times above the Arctic circle. Having said that, I have not over-wintered, let alone spent prolonged periods of time in extremely cold temperatures in a tent. I have also never skied! I think that such a challenge is worthy of the fundraising target I have set myself for Help for Heroes. I won't deny that I have always wanted to explore and experience the polar regions more fully, and to get to the Pole would be the ultimate acheivement!

Last Christmas I received a gift of a white fleece, which was instantly nicknamed my polar bear suit, and hence the name for my polar attempt was sealed (excuse the pun!).

Chris was born in Salisbury 32 years ago and has dedicated 14 years of his life to the Her Majesty’s Royal Marines and the last ten serving in British Special Forces leaving as Sgt. After a fifth tour of duty in Iraq he decided there must me a more dangerous way of making a living and spending his time, so took the plunge and left. He retrained in the fields of Performance Psychology and Coaching due to his fascination with the human mind and what amazing feats it can achieve in the most arduous environments.

He is currently setting up his own company 4ward Motion and will look to launch it after he has popped all his blisters and finished arguing with Leanne after the Polar Challenge! In his spare time he loves to run long distances as he's lucky enough to live next to the golden beaches of Bournemouth.

I think the Polar Challenge will not disappoint us all, as we truly experience the hardship of the journey and the unforgiving factors that will engulf us daily. Also Chris's first experience of competing in an event with a female team mate which is nail biting stuff!! (Hope he's willing to eat those words when we win!!)

*NEW!*

Heroes Ball on the 16th March 2010 - Huge success, with guest speakers from Mission Performance!

Team BearBabe welcomes Chris Foot as race partner!!

Norwegian Arctic Survival Training - blog, photos etc being updated as I defrost!!!

Big Eat pages up and running

Still collecting 5 pence pieces for the Silver Mile!!!