Our Ambassadors
Through our work and network of relationships, we are fortunate to have met some of the world’s most amazing people and friends, who we are proud to call our ambassadors.
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Bear Grylls OBE
British adventurer, writer, television presenter, former SAS trooper, and eater of exotics, Bear needs little introduction.
Bear’s sense of adventure started early when he started a mountaineering club while studying at Eton College. He joined 21 SAS as a trooper, retiring after a skydiving accident. He still found it in him to climb Mount Everest, cross the Atlantic, and start an adventure documentary career.
Bear was awarded an OBE in 2019 and serves as an honorary Colonel in the Royal Marines. There are many things Bear could teach Serve On, but we are adamant we won’t be using his insect cookbook when deployed.
Photo attribution:
By Matt Allen - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Honorary_Colonel_Bear_Grylls_inspects_(cropped).jpg
Dame Joanna Lumley
English actress, former model and Bond girl, voice-over artist, and author best known for her roles in the British television series Absolutely Fabulous, where she played Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone. She also played parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive Skin.
She has spoken out as a human rights activist for Survival International and the Gurkha Justice Campaign and is now considered a "national treasure" of Nepal because of her support.
Serve On is proud to count Joanna as one of our ambassadors.
Pete Dunning
As anyone at Serve On will tell you, never bet against Pete Dunning.
Pete joined the Royal Marines and served in Afghanistan in 2007-2008. A few days before the end of his second tour, Pete's Viking vehicle was blown up. Pete lost both lower legs and broke his back.
“You’ve never lived until you’ve nearly died – that’s why I do everything I do to the best of my ability.”
Flown back as an emergency to Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital, Pete had to lie flat on his back for five weeks while his spine, held together with small rods and screws, knitted.
Then, within hours of being well enough to be given a wheelchair, he was off shopping in the city centre.
He learned to walk on prosthetic limbs at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court. Exactly 50 weeks to the day after his injury, Pete returned to the Royal Marines in an administrative role at the Fleet Naval Air Squadron in Yeovilton. Again, he could have settled into a quiet life.
Instead, Pete flew off to Bavaria with Battle Back – a MOD initiative to give seriously injured soldiers and sailors adventure training and sporting opportunities – and set off for the slopes, “curious” about how he would fare at skiing.
Three months later, after two weeks’ experience of rocketing down the piste on a mono-ski specially designed for double amputees, he successfully trialled for the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team.
Since then, Pete has competed in the Invictus Games playing wheelchair rugby, gained an Open University Degree and trained and passed his qualification to be an IRT member at Serve On.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, OBE
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet and Order of the British Empire, is widely considered one of the greatest British explorers. In 1984, the Guinness Book of World Records named him the World's Greatest Living Explorer for his pioneering expeditions and journeys around the globe.
Beyond his military career, Sir Ranulph Fiennes (as he's more commonly known) began leading expeditions in 1967, starting with two on the Jostedalsbreen Glacier in Norway. He embarked on numerous expeditions throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the Transglobal Expedition from 1979 to 1982. This remarkable journey made him the first to travel from the North Pole to the South Pole overland and by water.
Fiennes often collaborated with Mike Stroud on unsupported expeditions, which transitioned into solo endeavours in the 1990s. While only some of his expeditions were successful, his determination was unwavering. His solo walk to the South Pole in 1996, aimed at raising funds for breast cancer research, was cut short due to a kidney stone. Similarly, his 2000 solo expedition to the North Pole was interrupted by a sledge accident that led to frostbite on his fingers. Impulsively, Fiennes amputated his frostbitten fingers, disregarding medical advice.
Conquering Everest proved to be a challenge for Fiennes, requiring three attempts. A heart attack near the summit halted his 2005 effort, and his 2008 attempt was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Finally, in 2009, Fiennes successfully climbed Everest, setting records as the oldest Briton and the first person to reach both polar caps and summit Everest.
Endurance running is another passion of Fiennes, who refuses to let health setbacks deter him. In 2003, just four months after a heart attack and bypass surgery, he completed seven marathons in seven days for the British Heart Foundation. In 2015, he participated in a gruelling six-day, 156-mile footrace across the Sahara Desert, enduring temperatures as high as 50°C.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes embodies passion, endurance, challenge, and charity. His place among the most outstanding British explorers is well-deserved, earned through relentless hard work and dedication.
