Schools Against Extinction

Join us at the Royal Geographical Society, London

Annually, usually in mid-November, we hold an event at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The event focuses on responsible travel and frontline conservation and we welcome an array of speakers from famous explorers to species experts. The event is attended by VIP guests from the world of travel and conservation – in 2016 we even welcomed HRH the Duke of Sussex.

As part of our pledge to education we reserve a limited number of free seats for schools. In the past, students have had an opportunity to meet a wide variety of special guests and speakers including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Colonel John Blashford Snell, Benedict Allen, Saba Douglas-Hamilton, Ian Redmond OBE, Dr Julian Fennessy,  Jerry Gotora and Levison Wood.

For further information or to request free tickets for your school please contact [email protected]

The Sheldrick Trust – £800- £1,600 fund-raising target

Pioneering elephant rescue, rehabilitation and release project in Kenya founded by the late Dame Daphne Sheldrick.

£800 could cover an entire month’s worth of formula milk for one elephant orphan

£900 could fund a Mobile Veterinary Unit for two weeks, giving life-saving treatment to sick and injured wild animals in the field

£1,300 could enrol a Ranger in three months of intensive training at the KWS Manyani Training Academy

£1,600 could fund the rescue of an orphan elephant, bringing it into the care of the Sheldrick Trust Nursery in Nairobi – one orphan will be fostered on the school’s behalf and you can receive monthly e-updates for 1 year about this orphan.

Ol Pejeta Conservancy – £800 – £2000 fund-raising target

Ol Pejeta is part of Fauna & Flora International and is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa. It is also home to the last two northern white rhinos in the world. The rhinos are protected by a specialist anti-poaching dog squad or K9 unit, comprising three different breeds fulfilling different roles: tracking (bloodhound), detection (Spaniel) and attack (Belgian Malinois).

£800 could equip a wildlife ranger with essential kit (boots, uniform, binoculars etc) 

£1,000 could feed an anti-poaching dog for a year

£2,000 could help to care on a day to day basis for Ol Pejeta’s rhinos, and allow your school the opportunity to name a rhino on the conservancy

Tiger Protection Units, Sumatra – £900 – £2,888 fund-raising target

Equip forest-edge community rangers working in three ecosystems in Sumatra with vital equipment.  The rangers patrol for snares, monitor the health and movements of the tigers and observe changes over time to the rainforest habitat – their work is essential to the tiger’s future and an essential link with the local communities.

£900 could fund three camera traps to monitor wildlife including tigers and other species.

£1,925 could pay for a session of field training, helping to get new rangers into the forest to protect tigers from poaching

£2,888 could pay for a motorbike, to help rangers’ access remote locations

Fund-raising support

Fund-raising suggestions: hold a non-uniform day, a cake sale/coffee morning or a sports day/summer fair barbecue; organise an event (disco, music recital, conservation debating competition etc) ; make and sell wildlife greeting/Christmas cards; organise sponsored activities (walks/dog walks; beach/park clean-ups and litter picks).

T-shirts for Change affiliate scheme: sign up for our affiliate scheme and we’ll provide your school with a unique link to our online store. For every conservation T-shirt sold using the unique link, a £3 donation will be credited to your fund-raising total (e.g., sell ten T-shirts and raise £30).

Host an event at your school: sell tickets for a conservation evening at your school. A trustee can come to talk about our work in more detail.

Young Explorer Programme (YEP)

Over the years,  we’ve welcomed many young people to our conservation evening at the Royal Geographical Society. It is always incredibly rewarding to hear how some of these individuals have been inspired by their experience. Some have gone on to volunteer for the charity during the holidays, or during their gap year, or to fund-raise for us in some capacity, while others have focused their studies on some aspect of conservation or embarked on a challenge.

Through YEP we aim to help young people with a passion for travel and conservation on their journey – for full details please click here.

Young Artist of the Year **Postponed due to Covid-19**

Design a poster for Explorers Against Extinction’s autumn 2020 art and photography exhibition at gallery@oxo on London’s South Bank and help highlight important conservation issues including habitat loss and climate change.

A selection of designs will be projected on the large screen in the Ondaatje Theatre at the Royal Geographical Society event on 12 November 2020.

3 designs will be shortlisted for the Young Artist of the Year Award. The shortlist will be announced on Friday 5 September. Each of the short-listed designs will be printed and available to buy in support of our nominated projects via our online and pop-up store. They will also be included in our official exhibition guide.

The winning design will be revealed on the opening day of the exhibition at gallery@oxo on Tuesday 10 November – the poster will be displayed in an A-board in the Oxo Tower Wharf courtyard near the entrance of gallery@oxo on London’s South Bank. The exhibition concludes on Sunday 15 November. Footfall along the river here is estimated to be over 20,000 people a day.

The shortlisted artists will be invited to attend our event at the Royal Geographical Society on Thursday 12 November where the winner will be presented with their award. To be eligible the artist should be attending school/college/university and under the age of 23.

To find out more please contact [email protected]