Outdoor Ted

26/07/2026

On Friday 7th August Drax are hosting a network event at the Skylark Nature Reserve to showcase the amazing facilities and wildlife. Unfortunately I can't attend as I am on holiday but Drax have asked me to share the kind of activities I can deliver to organisations who would like to use the centre but feel they need some guidance on their first visit.
Outdoor Ted is all about using the outdoors to improve wellbeing, build confidence, encourage physical activity and bring people together. While many people know me through my work with schools, I also work with community groups, charities, social and green prescribing services, and organisations supporting people of all ages.
Whether it's guided wellbeing walks, nature connection sessions, campfire experiences, team building or bespoke outdoor activities, every session is designed around the needs of your group. There's no one-size-fits-all approach – together we create experiences that help people feel healthier, happier and more connected to the natural world.
If you attended the Drax Community Education networking event at Skylark Nature Reserve, I'd love to hear from you and explore how we could work together.
🌐 www.outdoorted.co.uk
📧 [email protected]
"Bespoke outdoor experiences designed around people, not programmes."

09/07/2026

Over the last few days I've been humbled to be contacted by a member of the team behind the campaign to save High Borrans Outdoor Education Centre.
They wanted to hear about my experience campaigning to save Bewerley Park and East Barnby, what worked, what didn't, and what we learnt along the way.
The truth is, every campaign is different.
Different councils. Different circumstances. Different communities.
But one thing is always the same...
Outdoor education changes lives.
Whether it's a child discovering confidence for the first time, learning resilience on a mountain, building friendships around a campfire, or simply experiencing nature away from a screen, these places offer something that simply can't be recreated in a classroom. Centres like High Borrans have been providing those experiences for generations.
That's why I believe this isn't about one centre competing against another. It's about standing together.
At a time when the Government is talking about giving children richer opportunities beyond the classroom through its new education reforms and wider enrichment agenda, it feels more important than ever that we protect the very places that already deliver so much of that learning. Investing in outdoor education isn't a luxury, it's an investment in healthier, happier and more resilient young people.
If sharing our experiences can help another community keep their outdoor education centre open, then I'm more than happy to do that.
Because this has never been about saving 'our' centre.
It's about making sure future generations continue to have access to more outdoor education, not less.
The strategy I've advised for this one is vastly different to one I did in 2021. This time it's about the questioning, It's a move away from emotion alone
"Please save our outdoor centre."
Instead it is
"Closing High Borrans contradicts the Government's own ambitions for children's education, wellbeing and opportunity."
As well as linking everything to government policy
enrichment
attendance
belonging
character
opportunity
wellbeing
reducing inequalities
The campaign should repeatedly ask
"How can Government talk about expanding enrichment while councils remove one of the country's longest-established outdoor education centres?"
Many disadvantaged families cannot afford:
PGL
private activity holidays
High Borrans is often the only opportunity some children ever have to:
canoe
climb
stay away from home
develop independence
experience the Lake District
Closing it widens inequality.

If you'd like to support the campaign to save High Borrans, please consider signing and sharing their petition:
https://democracy.northtyneside.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=22&RPID=3953514&HPID=3953514

07/07/2026

Genuinely would’ve done this when I left school had it been an option.
The great thing about this apprenticeship is you learn from the best outdoor instructors you could wish to meet.
A lot are ex-teachers so know it’s more than just letting the kids have a go, these are instructors who know how to bring the best outdoor in students, know how to do behaviour management, know that to build resilience, grow your comfort zones, is more than here’s a climbing wall get to the top and ring a bell. Learning from the best means you too can become the best and pass that knowledge down.

Salary: £24,522 per annum Grade: Apprentice (Outdoor Activity Instructor – Level 3) Contract: Fixed Term 18 Months Hours: Various Location: Pateley Bridge, Whitby, North Yorkshire,

03/06/2026

Attended the School Ganes conference today and was presented with this.
It really made my day.

30/05/2026

As you know, I'm a huge advocate of Outdoor Education centres and have a particular fondness for Beverley Park and East Barnby due to the number of times I've been and just how brilliant and knowledgeable the staff are.
So I've been thinking about what would I currently be doing if I owned an outdoor centre with all the new changes to the School Sports Premium and the White Paper.

So this is me thinking out loud…..

**How can we help schools deliver the government's vision for a richer, broader education experience?**

The recent White Paper talks about enrichment being an important part of every child's school experience, not just academic attainment. Alongside that, the government has announced over £1 billion of investment into a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, with a strong focus on tackling inequalities in participation, supporting inactive children, girls, SEND pupils and disadvantaged young people.

So if I were running an outdoor centre, I don't think I'd be positioning myself simply as a place for residentials and school trips.

I'd be asking:

🔹 How can we become an enrichment partner?

🔹 How can we help schools evidence personal development, wellbeing, attendance and belonging?

🔹 How can we support children who don't traditionally engage in sport?

🔹 How can outdoor learning become part of a school's strategy rather than a one-off visit?

The really interesting question for me is...

**Who will be holding the budgets?**

Historically, schools received PE and Sport Premium funding directly. The new model appears to be moving towards partnerships, targeted support and coordinated local delivery.

That means outdoor centres may need to think differently.

Perhaps the conversations shouldn't only be with headteachers.

Maybe they should also be with:

• School Sport Partnerships / School Games structures

• Active Partnerships

• Multi Academy Trusts

• Local Authorities

• SEND networks

• Attendance and inclusion teams

• Public Health teams

• Youth organisations

• Community and voluntary sector partnerships

If the focus is genuinely shifting towards tackling inactivity, wellbeing, belonging and inequalities, then outdoor learning has a huge role to play.

Imagine being able to offer:

🌿 Nature-based wellbeing programmes

🌿 Targeted interventions for disengaged pupils

🌿 Outdoor leadership pathways

🌿 Transition programmes

🌿 Family engagement events

🌿 SEND-friendly outdoor experiences

🌿 Physical literacy through adventure and exploration

🌿 Attendance and behaviour support through outdoor learning

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the most successful outdoor centres over the next few years won't be the ones selling trips...

They'll be the ones helping schools solve problems.

Up skilling school staff with outdoor learning CPD

Improving attendance.

Supporting mental wellbeing.

Building confidence.

Developing physical literacy.

Creating belonging.

Delivering enrichment.

Perhaps the opportunity isn't "How do we get more schools to book us?"

Perhaps it's:

**"How do we become an essential partner in helping schools deliver the outcomes government is now prioritising?"**

I'd be interested to hear what others think.

If you were running an outdoor education centre today, where would you be focusing your efforts?

Major funding to support new PE and school sport, with targeted support to ensure all children can access equal opportunities for activity.

13/04/2026

Admittedly I'm not very going at promoting myself on social media and what I can provide at Outdoor Ted.
I'm currently doing some more studying, this time in Nature Circles. Nature Circles is the new therapeutic skills course for outdoor practitioners on how to use the outdoors for children in schools. Nature Circles is a short, structured, outdoor intervention designed to support emotional regulation, belonging, and nervous system safety. Once I have completed this course I will update my qualifications and all the potential things I could deliver in your school as well as the continued use of The Skylark Nature Reserve. This qualification will sit alongside the other therapeutic skills in the outdoors qualifications including:
One of the first qualified people in the country to be able to deliver Level 2 Nature Connection as an equivalent to a GCSE
Certificate in Mental Health & Wellbeing in the outdoors for adults
Certificate in therapeutic outdoor skills for children
Advanced Certificate in Forest Schools
Outdoor Ted is also part of the Children's University, if you would like to know more about how I could support children in your school or visit the nature reserve for a full day of outdoor activities, please email [email protected]

26/01/2026

As with any new trend, there’s often a bit of confusion — and I’m seeing this more and more with nature connection.

Over the last few years of upskilling and studying this area, I’ve noticed many schools and practitioners using the term nature connection when what they’re actually delivering is nature contact. They are not the same — and they shouldn’t be taught in the same way.

Nature contact is simply being outdoors, it’s where you are.
Nature connection is about building a relationship with the natural world — through senses, compassion, emotion, beauty, & meaning. Research from the University of Derby shows that people with higher nature connectedness consistently report better wellbeing, lower anxiety and stronger pro-environmental behaviours. It isn’t achieved by “just taking the activity outside”.

I’ve even sat in meetings where nature connection has been dismissed with exactly that line. That misunderstanding limits the impact before the work has even started.

If we want to see real outcomes for children’s mental health, engagement and long-term behaviour, we have to be precise with our language, our intent and our delivery.

Getting this right isn’t semantics — it’s the difference between exposure and impact.

20/01/2026

Only 3 places left on the 2 day Outdoor First Aid course at Bewerley Park - I did this course 5 years ago and it was the best first aid course I've been on
£165
5th & 6th February

22/11/2025

Both groups were fantastic. The Stone Age day is one of our most popular days. Group 2 even got to experience their day in the snow, which made it more magical.
Thank you for coming

29/10/2025

Today's unit of work to complete my qualification is centred around 'grounding' using breathing techniques to calm ourselves and bring us back in to the present. I've already learned a few new mindful breathing activities using feathers and leaves. I'm really looking forward to delivering this course to 11+ pupils once I'm qualified.