REDEFINING IMPOSSIBLE STARTS HERE
Our mission is to harness the power of adventure to support individuals after life-changing trauma.
What We Do
At the Redefining Impossible Foundation, we harness the power of adventure and the great outdoors to support individuals in the aftermath of life-changing trauma.
We believe that stepping beyond comfort zones – into challenge, into nature, and into the unknown – can be a catalyst for change. Importantly, we believe that no one redefines their impossible alone. Behind every breakthrough, every milestone, and every boundary broken is a team – individuals who support, challenge, and believe in what’s possible, even when it’s hard to see.
For Darren Edwards, that sense of community and teamwork was fundamental. From the earliest days after his injury to standing at the start lines of world-first expeditions, it was the people around him who helped him rebuild belief, rediscover identity, and take on challenges that once felt out of reach. The Foundation exists to be that same community for others.
We support individuals who have experienced life-changing trauma that results in disability. Our focus is on the critical first years post-injury or diagnosis – a time when the right support, opportunities, and community can shape the trajectory of a life.
It is the Foundation’s mission to meet individuals at this moment, offering a community, experiences, and guidance that empower them to rebuild confidence, discover new passions, and redefine what is possible living with a disability. Whether someone is leaving hospital, navigating rehabilitation, or seeking purpose after trauma, we are there to provide the adventure, experiences, and community that enable transformation.
Who we support
Meet the founder
After a near-fatal climbing accident in the mountains of North Wales left him permanently paralysed from the chest down, Darren Edwards faced an uncertain future. While fortunate to be alive thanks to the heroics of his best friend and climbing partner, he struggled with the physical and psychological impact of his injury, and with a profound loss of identity and direction.
What changed everything for Darren was the people around him - friends and family who refused to let him lose his passion for adventure. Even before his discharge from the Midlands Centre for Spinal Injury, they had convinced him to purchase a sea kayak - ready for a new and exciting form of adventure upon leaving hospital.
What followed was an extraordinary journey: learning to kayak (albeit poorly) in a swimming pool, leading the first team to kayak from Land’s End to John O’Groats, running seven marathons in seven days across seven continents, and undertaking his world-first ‘Redefining Impossible’ expedition to Antarctica and the South Pole. Through adaptive adventure, Darren rebuilt himself physically, mentally, and emotionally.
The Redefining Impossible Foundation is the legacy of that journey. It exists to give others, in the earliest and most uncertain stages of recovery, the same opportunities for challenge, adventure, and community that transformed Darren’s life.