For eight years, Salford born TIm Foley has been the driving force of a campaign to honour Tom Crean, an Irish explorer who served under Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton on three pioneering expeditions to Antarctica in the early part of the 20th century. Having spent his early career in the building trade, Tim began writing via his own online consumer advice forum in 1999. As a result, he was signed up by ITV to act as Project Consultant on popular television DIY shows such as ITV's Better Homes, followed by Granada's 60 Minute Makeover. Tim was then commisioned to take a lead role in a two-part special for ITV's Tonight With Trevor McDonald. In a sociopolitical experiment that subsequently rendered the project a great success, transforming a derelict Liverpool terraced house into a fully refurbished home at a fraction of the cost of its proposed demolition and the rehousing of its neighbourhood community. From a young age Tim had been left fascinated by the heroic tales of Tom Crean, whose story he discovered while spending much of his time in his father's birthplace of County Kerry, Ireland. Over the course of his career a number of publications have featured Tim's articles and in 2017 he decided to utilise his many years of research and study into the life of Tom Crean to compile this, his first book. In 2010, Tim created a Facebook campaign dedicated to achieving official recognition for the Annascaul born explorer.
The campaign and media platforms are today supported by a growing worldwide audience and in February 2018, Tim's petition for a new Irish Naval Flagship to be named in honour of Tom Crean, signed by over 10,000 supporters, was formally received by the Irish Minister for Defence at Government Buildings in Dublin.