£1million charity challenge battling the elements on a rock in the Atlantic

A FORMER George Ward School teacher will live for one week on a remote rock in the Atlantic next year in an attempt to raise £1million for charity. 

Chris “Cam” Cameron – who was a science teacher and head of year at George Ward School for 12 years – will attempt to ‘survive’ on Rockall, an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, 230 miles west of mainland UK. He will stay on a ledge no bigger than 3 metres by 1.4 metres battling winds and waves with his friend and ex-navy colleague, Dr Chris Grieco, in June 2022. 

They will be following in the footsteps of only five other people who have successfully stayed for more than one night on Rockall. The current world record holder, Nick Hancock, who stayed for 45 days on Rockall in 2014, will act as a consultant on the trip. 

Money raised from the challenge will be donated to Children’s Hospice South West, which provides respite care for seriously ill children and their families, and also the Royal Navy Royal Marines Charity. 

“I’m really excited,” said Cam speaking to Melksham News about the challenge. “But there is some apprehension, there are eight months to go and trying to knit everything together for the challenge is really difficult.  

“Living on the rock will not be the most difficult thing, it’s getting out there – I currently have two vessels pledged to make the trip, but then it all depends on the ‘weather window’. And once there, it is a potentially dangerous and not a pleasant place to live – it stinks of rotten fish and bird guano – not pleasant at all. Plus there’s 17m to 20m drop into the sea!  

“We considered Everest and K2 base camp and various other places for the challenge – but 4,000 people have summited Everest, and only five people have actually lived on Rockall. And there’s a reason for that – it’s horrendous to get out there, no one wants to go there and it’s a god-awful place, it’s uninhabitable and an inhospitable place in the middle of nowhere.” 

Cam started teaching at George Ward in 1998 and stayed for 12 years, leaving shortly after Melksham Oak opened in 2010. 

“I still keep in contact with hundreds of students and former staff, who are lovely – they think that the challenge is madness! And those that haven’t heard about it yet, well it won’t surprise them – I’ve done lots of crazy things in the past!”  

For more information about Cam’s Rockall 2022 Expedition and to follow his progress, visit the website: www.rockall2022.org