Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/exarcticgurkha
Website - http://www.arcticgurkha.com

Between May and August 2015 Captain Jon Armstrong and Corporal Arjun Limbu of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles will set off on a 1500 mile circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian arctic circle.

Expedition Arctic Gurkha (Ex AG) will take us an estimated 100 days to complete during which we will have to face extreme temperatures, unpredictable ice floes and polar bears! We're planning to break the world record of 104 days and to raise raise the profile of the Gurkhas in the 200th anniversary year of Gurkha service to the Crown while raising money to support Gurkha communities in Nepal. 

We are raising money for the water & sanitation programs run by the Gurkha Welfare Trust - such as the project in Nangkholyang village, Taplejung, Nepal - Arjun's home district. Water projects like these provide households and schools direct access to clean running water, transforming the lives of the villagers who typically rely on animal farming & agriculture for their livelihoods. 

Easy access to clean, running water saves lives but it also raises the quality of life for many villagers, especially children and their mothers. No longer required to fetch & carry water for hours at a time, children will now be more able to attend school and are less likely to fall ill with preventable diseases. Improved irrigation leads to more effective and profitable farming. 

Knowing that our expedition will help to improve the lives of so many in Gurkha communities will be a huge morale and motivation booster for us when things get tough! We sincerely thank you for your support. 

The Gurkha Welfare Trust (the GWT) supports ex-servicemen of the British Crown and their dependents living in poverty & distress. Through the provision of a monthly pension, mobile medical care, retirement homes, and development programmes such as the rural water & sanitation programme the Trust seeks to ensure that ex-servicemen and their families can live with dignity and are supported by basic services they would otherwise not have access to. 

For more information about the work of the GWT please go to - www.gwt.org.uk
For more information about our route, timeline and the team please visit our website at www.arcticgurkha.com or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/exarcticgurkha and on Twitter at @exarcticgurkha