Training for outdoor practitioners

We are very excited to announce our training programme for 2022.

Join us for one (or more) of our inspiring sessions at our wonderful Forest School site at Hailey Wood, part of the Bathurst Estate. We offer hands-on, practical days where you can immerse yourself in one aspect of bushcraft – fires, sharp tools and plants.

We will take you through activities step-by-step, offering tried out tips and tricks from our many years of working with children and adults. Group sizes are kept small with a high ratio of facilitators to students in order to give you the best support possible. Training with us will increase your knowledge and confidence, and you will come away with skills that will support both you and the people you work with.

Our training sessions are aimed at Forest School practitioners, counsellors working outdoors, ecotherapists as well as keen individuals wanting to learn more about bushcraft (we also offer an Introduction to Bushcraft course for women, as part of our programme Purple Forest Collective – Wellbeing and Woodland Skills for Women).

After attending one of our training days, you will have access to our monthly Saturday gatherings where you can hone your skills. These alternate between ‘women only’ sessions and those open to everyone.

Playing with Fire (I), 26 March 2022, 10 to 4 pm

Get confident lighting fires without matches. You will learn about finding and processing firewood and logs, different fire lays, natural tinder and how to make charcloth and charcoal for pencils. We will also cook lunch and snacks on the fire.

Playing with Plants, 30 April 2022, 10 to 4 pm

Unlock a variety of ways to use plants we commonly find around us, e.g. brambles, nettles and sticky weed. We will go for a foraging walk in the surrounding woodland and process what we have found into cordage, tea, food and balm.

Playing with Sharp Tools, 9 July 2022, 10 to 4 pm

Learn to use a variety of sharp tools safely, including saws, knife and axe. You have the chance to select and cut your own wood to complete little projects easily replicable with children and/or adults.

Playing with Fire (I), 8 October 2022, 10 to 4 pm

Get confident lighting fires without matches. You will learn about finding and processing firewood and logs, different fire lays, natural tinder and how to make charcloth and charcoal for pencils. We will also cook lunch and snacks on the fire.