Pen Hadow plans to begin the South Pole mission in December

The 41-year-old explorer, who lives in Hexworthy on Dartmoor, became the first person to reach the geographic North Pole unsupported from Canada in May.

He fulfilled a 15-year dream by completing the 478-mile, 64-day trek, but then had to wait eight days for the right weather so he could be airlifted out.

Mr Hadow plans to begin the South Pole mission in December.

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The 731-mile (1,170 kilometre) journey from Hercules Inlet, on the edge of the Antarctic continent, to the South Geographic Pole will take 65 days.

He will be accompanied by 63-year-old Hong Kong-based author and entrepreneur Simon Murray.

Mr Murray, a former Foreign Legionnaire, will be the oldest person to ever tackle the trek.

The money raised will help restore, display in environmentally controlled conditions, and digitally catalogue the RGS archive in transformed buildings in London.

The aim of the RGS project is to provide full public access to its heritage collection for the first time.

The archive contains about 500,000 items its archive, including maps dating back to the 15th Century, journals, pictures, diaries, personal papers and artefacts from some of the most celebrated figures in the history of exploration and geography.

The RGS has raised �9.2m towards the projects, including a �5m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.