OUR KYRGYZSTAN EXPEDITION TEAM

As a qualified and current Mountaineering, Kayaking, Sailing, Powerboat and First Aid Instructor, Mark has lead adventurous activities for young people in the remote areas of the UK as well as overseas. A significant part of his work is training Outdoor Instructors and Mark holds the Institute of Outdoor Learning, Accredited Practitioner award, an award for which he has mentored others. He also holds Professional in Outdoor Learning status and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Mark is most fulfilled when those he is leading overcome the challenges that adventure offers and in doing so achieve more than they thought they ever would. Mark has a keen understanding of the risk to benefit ratio of adventure training, and through volunteering for a mountain rescue team, for a decade, fully understands that prevention is better than cure. In his current role he is the Centre Director / CEO at CMC Adventure, an outdoor education charity that provides residential courses for young people and adults. When not introducing others to the life enriching enjoyment of the outdoors he is an enthusiastic amateur herpetologist, breeding, a number of reptile species at his home in Wales, including rare tortoises.

In 2019 she stepped away from that life to spend a year travelling through South and Central America. During that time, she visited 11 countries, trekked the Inca Trail, and volunteered with a marine conservation project protecting coral reefs in Mexico. She also helped lead a three-month expedition for young volunteers in Costa Rica. Since returning, Louise has completed an MSc in Outdoor Education at the University of Edinburgh. She now works with Venture Trust, an organisation that supports people to build confidence, resilience, and life skills through outdoor-based personal development programmes. Her work involves helping participants take part in wilderness journeys and structured expeditions designed to promote personal growth, positive decision-making, and a sense of achievement in remote and challenging environments. She also supports young people completing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards, guiding them through the challenges and rewards of their expedition journeys.

With a background in Geography and Anthropology, and experience living in Canada and the South African bush, Will is passionate about the therapeutic and transformative power of the outdoors. His leadership style is reflective and inclusive, focusing on helping young people develop resilience, teamwork, and self-belief through shared challenges in wild places. Believing that young people need resilience now more than ever, Will values the opportunity British Exploring expeditions provide for them to disconnect, experience challenge, and grow. Will feels privileged to witness young people and peer leaders discover their own path forward.

Katherine has a background in working with children and young people of all ages, in a variety of different roles: first training as a Secondary PE teacher, then working for 4 yrs as a trainee outdoor instructor at an Outdoor Centre in Snowdonia, and for the last 5 years Katherine has worked as a Teaching Assistant in an Infant School. As a qualified Mountain Leader, Katherine also spends her spare time freelancing - supervising and assessing on Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. She also volunteers as Welfare Officer for her local Canoe Club, and provides kayak safety for triathlons and open water swimming events. In all of these roles, Katherine strives to share her passion for the outdoors, aiming to inspire as many young people as possible to experience the huge benefits of spending time in the outdoors, whether it is sharing her stories and photos in assemblies at her school to inspire the younger generation, or providing encouragement and advice to young people as they participate in outdoor activities and expeditions. Katherine has also enjoyed participating in many expeditions outside of British Exploring Society, most notably: 4 weeks in Namibia as a teenager; and in 2022 sea kayaking 228km over 10 days on the coast of East Greenland, a journey and experience which she recounted in a Micro=lecture at the Royal Geographical Society, where she is also a Fellow.

Currently, she has a portfolio career that's centred connecting people and developing confidence. With a background in leadership development, career change and community building she uses her network and experiences to help others design the life they want and figure out what steps will get them one step closer to their goals. Outside of work, you can find her playing tag rugby, learning Spanish or walking her parent's two crazy Spaniels. Or working on a personal project (Project 50) where she aims to learn 50 new skills from scratch!

Emily spends her free time running, hiking and enjoying time with friends and family. Her favourite days in life are mountain days! She has done a lot of solo travel in her time and loves exploring new places and learning about them!

Lucy is a keen sportswoman and thrives on adventures in remote environments. Her adventure highlights include running across Iceland, hiking across Costa Rica and the Andes or whitewater kayaking expeditions in the Alps. Outside of the UK Lucy has worked with young people in orphanages in Argentina and has participated and benefitted from outdoor youth development programmes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Lucy is keen to give back and support the development of young people through their engagement with the outdoors.

Like many people, during the pandemic, Jordan struggled but the outdoor environment provided the perfect respite from the stresses of daily life and used the medium of outdoor sports as a way to challenge himself. He now spends every chance he can up a mountain, sleeping under a tarp, or diving along a coral reef. Through joining the British Exploring Society team in Kyrgyzstan this summer, Jordan hopes to impart his enthusiasm for the outdoors to the Young Explorers to encourage their own personal development.

She loves being outdoors and walking, kayaking and swimming. This is her first trip with British Exploring Society and she is really excited about being involved. Cariad speaks 7 languages and is looking forward to learning some more in Kyrgyzstan! She is based in Devon, UK, and has two grown-up sons, with whom she has done lots of travelling and exploring all over the world.

After teaching English in Colombia, he decided to undertake a doctorate in Social Anthropology (the study of human culture, society, politics and environment) which he continues to teach today. He's an obsessive music listener, loves swimming in rivers, and enjoys imagining that he's running ultra marathons during his 10k park runs. He hopes to combine his academic interests and educational vocation with the love of the outdoors as a knowledge leader with British Exploring Society.

He is always interested in the how and why of things and enjoys building his knowledge and skills in mental, practical and outdoor pursuits. Physical challenges have always been a part of life completing marathons and triathlons as well as sponsored cycle rides and long distance walks. More recently he has been able to follow his love of travel exploring places like Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan and summiting the highest mountains on northern and southern Africa Professionally he is a research technician at a university working in a group focussed on clean energy solutions

Professionally she is a civil engineer currently working in the delivery of complex infrastructure projects which informs her approach to logistics planning and love of spreadsheets. Alice is an advocate for the benefits that adventure can bring having first-hand experience of the increased confidence and improved leadership and problem-solving skills that she has gained from adventuring and is keen to help facilitate others’ adventures.

Andy has a PhD in biochemistry and before 2021 had a varied career which included cancer research, new cancer drug development and scientific communication. In his spare time he enjoys cycling, hiking and walking his four springer spaniels. He’s always seeking new challenges and learning opportunities. He was an adventure leader on the British Exploring Societies’ Cairngorms expedition in 2025, which was so enjoyable and rewarding he’s back for more in 2026.

Ken ended up as a Managing Director in the largest shipping services provider in the world. During all this he married and has brought up three children who form the back bone of his existance. By his mid 40's the corporate world was no longer the challenge he was looking for and so took early retirement to spend more time with his family and take on some fresh challenges. These include various expeditions in the Himalaya, the Andes and Sking as part of a small expedition to the North Pole. He has a keen interest in endurance events including Ironman, Marathon and Ultramarathon running, Another reason for leaving work was to give back. Ken realises he has been fortunate in many ways and wants to try and help make a difference to others who don't always have the best or easisest start in life. Him and his wife have been involved in Charity work focusing on helping others obtain a more sustainable future, amongst other things, building schools and houses in rural communities of South East Asia. He is also involved nearer to home as a governor to state schools in SE London with the specific focus on year 12 & 13. Ken qualified as a Mountain Leader in 2018 so that he can combine his passion for the outdoors whilst helping others achieve their; in many cases unknown abilities and help them explore what their future might look like.

As a qualified Mountain Leader, she loves spending time in the mountains and has completed several long-distance walks independently, in the Alps, Pyrenees, and Himalayas, and most recently an Arctic Expedition in Northern Norway. She has also travelled extensively in Southeast Asia, Nepal, Australia and New Zealand and has spent some time in Kenya supporting Team Talk, a global health project teaching Tag Rugby in schools. In addition to her love of the mountains, Vron is also a keen trail runner and has completed numerous mountain marathons in The Lakes, Scotland, and North Wales, many with her children. She has also completed several cycling tours, such as the NC500, Grand Traverse of the Alps, the Pyrenees, Picos de Europa and Dolomites. Vron is excited to be leading again with British Exploring Society and for the opportunity to share her passion for the mountains with young BES explorers.

Expeditions have become a staple of his life, pursing various obscure long trails, delving into mountaineering, and crashing into skiing. The Outdoors has given Angus a lifestyle, profession, and family. Now he seeks to return the favour, advocating for its protection, and encouraging engagement. Working as a guide in New Zealand, Angus was involved in local conservation efforts and acted as an educator for those new to the environment. Throughout his 7 years leading groups in the outdoors, he has continuously seen the benefits individuals gain in the space, pushing their boundaries and broadening their imaginations. Angus is excited to see these next adventures with British Exploring Society through with the same enthusiasm he found in the outdoors as a child.