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https://navynews.co.uk/archive/news/item/6605

Protector’s ‘Santastic’ charity Christmas run in Antarctica
19 December 2012
Twenty Father Christmases and one Rudolph ran across 
the Antarctic ice for charity as HMS Protector staged 
a Santa dash.
The icebreaker paused her survey work at Deception 
Island – a semi-submerged volcano off the Antarctic 
peninsula – to allow the fancy dress runners to race 
to raise money for sick youngsters and their families 
in East Anglia.

Pictures: LA(Phot) Arron Hoare, HMS Protector
ON YOUR marks.
Get set.
Ho ho ho.
Twenty Santas and one Rudolph dash across the ice 
at Deception Island – a partially-submerged active 
volcano off the Antarctic peninsula nearly 600 
miles off the southern tip of the Americas.
As ice exploration and survey ship HMS Protector
got stuck in to her first stint in the chilly 
waters of the Polar region, around one third of 
the ship’s company donned festive costumes for 
this Santa dash on behalf of the ship’s affiliated 
charity. East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice (EACH).

The Santas and lone Rudolph gathered for a gentle 
warm up led by the Portsmouth-based ship’s 
Executive Officer, Commander Don Mackinnon, 
who’s currently in command of the 5,000-tonne 
icebreaker as part of her regular rotation of crew.

Amid perfect weather conditions, and under the 
watchful eye of two seals that had taken up post 
next to the ship, the Santas completed their run, 
one of eight organised on behalf of the children’s 
hospital this Christmas (although the remaining 
races took place in the less-exotic surroundings 
of Essex and East Anglia, raising £34,000 in the 
process).

For the Protector dash, the ship first had to 
break through a sheet of snow-covered ice around 
Deception Island – although it’s approaching the 
height of the Austral summer, temperatures by 
day just about climb above 0°C – before coming 
to a planned stop.
Some of the ship’s company disembarked to test 
the ice and drill samples to ensure the surface 
was safe before Protector’s eager Santas and 
Rudolph filed down accommodation ladder and 
prepared for their race.

“With 21 hours of daylight in every 24, our 
working day in Antarctica tends to be a long 
one. The other day, for example, our first boat 
group departed the ship at 8.30am and the last 
one finally got back at 11 that night,” Cdr 
Mackinnon explained.
“With that sort of work pace it’s therefore 
nice to be able to take a break from operations 
now and again, and do something both for fun, 
and also to help our affiliated charity at the 
same time.
“Santa’s traditional home might be the North Pole, 
but as you can see he has helpers that visit 
the other one too!”
As part of her affiliations with Cambridge (home, 
inter alia, to the British Antarctic Survey and 
the Scott Polar Research Institute), Protector 
has been bound with EACH since August.
The charity provides support to families and 
care for children and young people with life-threatening 
conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk 
and Suffolk.

Providing care and support wherever the family wishes, 
in families’ own homes, in the community or at the 
hospices, their care teams help children and their 
families with the emotional and physical challenges 
they face, helping them to make the most of life.
“The photographs of the Santa run in the Antarctic 
are stunning and really capture the essence of what 
Santa runs are all about – having fun while raising 
vital funds for such an important cause,” said EACH’s 
Denise Norris-Fenn.
The fun run done, Protector has resumed her work 
supporting an international team conducting formal
Antarctic Treaty inspections of sites across the 
peninsula.
That team is visiting a number of scientific stations, 
historic sites, cruise vessels and yachts in the region.
HMS Protector will be operating in and around 
Antarctica until April.


http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/national/10115682.print/

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hms-protector-takes-to-the-ice-for-a-charity-santa-run

https://navynews.co.uk/archive/news/item/6605

http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/topic/hms-protector/


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England. 
The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of 
the East Angles, a tribe that originated in Angeln, 
northern Germany. 

http://www.suffolktouristguide.com/About-East-Anglia.asp
A short history of East Anglia

http://www.deceptionisland.aq/
Deception Island home page


http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/an.htm
Map from WorldAtlas.com