My name is James Redden, a father of two from Totnes, Devon in the UK and now living in Oxfordshire. I am a former soldier and now a business owner of an IT consultancy. Like many of you, I love the outdoors and like to keep myself as fit as it is possible for someone of, ahem, 49 years old (not something I like to admit as it always feels to me as if time is fleeting).
My journey to locations such as the North Pole, Norway, Canada, the Sahara Desert and other locations started way back when I was a young boy. As a child, I read book after book after book. I devoured fiction like it was a rare treat offered to the beasts of the Serengeti. My day dreams carried me to mythical destinations, each filled with hidden mysteries and stranges creatures. These were amazing years.
Later I discovered the joys of non-fiction. Tales of great explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Ranulph Fiennes were consumed and made part of the many vivid dreams I found in the dark hours. The path was set – I decided to become an explorer. My wakeful hours were filled with crazy dreams of how I was going to conquer some as yet unknown destinations. There was only one problem: life!
When the enormity and reality of planning and funding an expidition hit home, at the age of about 18, I realised that my dreams might have to be put on hold.
Instead of giving up all hope I decided to find another way of travelling to exotic, far-flung locations. I joined the British Army.
Thriteen years later, worn out from many trips around the globe, I left the service and embarked on a new career in techonolgy. After ten years of working with many of biggest companies in the world I started to feel a familiar itch; the urge for adventure was upon me again.
One night, whilst celebrating my 44th birthday, and after a couple of drinks, I boldy announced my intention to ski to the North Pole. The next day, my head feeling a little thicker than usual, I called my friend Olivier with the intention of laughing the announcement off as a big joke.
Too late! He’d already found a charity for me to represent and had told the CEO of my plans. There was no going back.
On the 21st April 2016 I reached the North Pole. And what a journey it was. The serenity and beauty of the place was unlike anything I have ever known. I was hooked.
From there on in, I made it mission to cotinuing exploring whilst raising funds for a local charity, Soundabout. I’ve seen firsthand the amazing work done by this organisation and was simply blown away after seeing the difference music can make to disabled people.
That’s me. If you’d like to get in touch then please head over to the contact page.