An intrepid pair of twins will be paying homage to Sir Ernest Shackleton by embarking on an icy trek with the same food and clothing the polar explorer used on his expedition to the Antarctic a hundred years ago.

Identical twins Hugo and Ross Turner will be attempting to cross the polar ice cap of Greenland in aid of scientific research and to raise money for charity Spinal Research.

The 25-year-olds from Exeter, the UK, will be carrying out the trip in the centenary year of Shackleton’s Endurance Expedition in 1914.

While one of the twins will be equipped with modern gear and the latest technology, the other will eat the food Shackleton would have eaten and wear the same kit in order to compare just how difficult it was to be an explorer a century ago.

The twins hope that the 550-kilometre expedition will raise over £250,000 for Spinal Research which carries out ground-breaking research in ending spinal cord paralysis that could enable millions of people to walk again.

It is a cause that is particularly close to their hearts.

Aged only 17, Hugo suffered a freak accident that left him with a broken neck, and suffering from neck down paralysis.

It was only after corrective neck surgery and six months of rehabilitation that Hugo narrowly missed becoming a tetraplegic.

“It literally was a lucky break,” Hugo said. “I was just millimetres away from being paralysed.”

Promising sportsman Ross also suffered injury tragedy when he broke his leg while playing rugby for Loughborough University in 2010, putting an end to his playing ambitions.

But the setbacks have not stopped the duo from carrying out outstanding feats of endurance in the name of charity.

Mimicking the aspects of the Shackleton expedition, one of the twins will be wearing woollen clothing and eating tinned food such as corned beef

Two years ago, the pair raised £150,000 for Spinal Research by completing the challenging Trans-Atlantic Woodvale Rowing Race in just under 42 days, coming third and breaking two world records for being part of the youngest crew to achieve such a feat.

Hugo and Ross were also the first twins to row across any ocean anywhere in the world.

“It’s very hard to fill the void left by our Atlantic row with a city job,” Hugo said. “Something always calls you back to try another challenge.”

The pair will now be pulling sleds across the inhospitable terrain of Greenland, trekking up to 19 kilometres a day and competing against each other with different supplies at their disposal.

Mimicking the aspects of the Shackleton expedition, one of the twins will be wearing woollen clothing and eating tinned food such as corned beef, while the other will get to enjoy all the trappings of modern day clothing technology and nutrition.

The pair have yet to decide which one of them will be doing the early 20th century trek and will probably make the decision on a coin toss before heading out to Greenland in late April, according to Ross.

“I’d love to do it in the old kit,” said Ross, who is eight minutes older than his brother.

“Not many people can say that they’ve done something like that the 19th century way, and first-hand accounts are very rare.

“We’ve not decided yet, but I’m not too fussed either way.

“The Shackleton era clothing is just woollen pullovers. It’s all natural material which has very good insulated properties and is not much different from the modern clothing except that it’s not bright on the outside.”

Throughout their expedition, which is expected to last between 20 and 30 days, the twins will be constantly monitored by a team from the Twins Research Department at King’s College University, London, who will be studying how their bodies cope in an extreme environment.

The researchers hope to be able to compare the importance of genetic and environmental influences in a wide range of common conditions such as osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, and asthma, from the twins’ experience.

“We’ll both be taking blood, stool and saliva samples every day of the trek which will be tested as soon as we get back from Greenland to compare how we have developed,” Ross said.

“It will be a hindrance but that’s our choice. The last thing we’ll want to do is take samples when we’re cold and tired, but the science is one of the main reasons we’re doing the trip.”

Sir Earnest Shackleton was a seasoned polar explorer when he set out on what became known as the Endurance Expedition in 1914-1917.

Attempting the first ever crossing of the Antarctic continent, tragedy struck when Sir Earnest’s ship, Endurance, was stuck in waters before the expedition party could land. All 28 crew on board were forced to abandon ship for lifeboats.

Shackleton eventually made an 1,287km open-boat journey with five others to alert help, resulting in everyone making it home with no loss of life.

The Turners challenge has the backing of notable figures such as actor Sir Kenneth Branagh, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls.

“I’ll eat my hat if people don’t get inspired and back the Turner Twins on their Greenland trek,” said Sir Kenneth Branagh, who played Shackleton in an acclaimed Channel 4 drama.

“Spinal Research is also inspiring and shares the same ‘adventurous spirit’. Thirty years ago, people said reversing spinal cord paralysis was impossible. Three decades and £25 million worth of research further on, things look very different.

“The goal of ending spinal cord injury paralysis gets closer every day.”

In another mixture of old and new, the Turner’s used an innovative crowd-funding platform, kriticalmass, to raise donations and attract sponsorship from big brands to fund their efforts.

Ross said: “Crowd-funding has been around a long time, but kriticalmass gave us a comprehensive list of contacts, donors and investors.

“They have been fantastic in extending our community of fundraisers and getting people engaged with the project.”

The expedition is due to begin on May 1.