Our collective experience means that we are knowledgeable and skilled in balancing adventure and challenge with safety.
Safety is at the forefront of our practice and from initial planning down to decisions made on the day we always let this guide us without being risk averse.
Safety
We are regularly inspected as part of our responsibility of being holders of an Adventurous Activities Licencing Service (AALS) Licence No. L13336/R2395 for Trekking.
To check our licence please email aala@hse.gov.uk or ring 02920 775715
We engage the services of a highly experienced MIC (Mountain Instructor Certificate) who also works as an expert witness and who advises us on our standard operating procedures, policies, and risk assessments on an annual basis.
We have a risk management policy which sets out how we mitigate and handle risk and will be made available when you book with us.
In light of recent events we will also provide you with our COVID-19 guidance explaining how we will aim to keep you safe during your time with us.
Instructor Qualifications
Unlike other providers we realise that although essential, it takes more than a qualification to make an outdoor instructor bring the outdoors to life and be a safe pair of hands.
So, we take a balanced and realistic approach to outdoor qualifications. The majority of instructors are Summer Mountain Leader qualified which is a National Governing Body award (NGB). In addition, we may also have staff with other relevant qualifications such as Basic Expedition Leader Award (BEL), Lowland Leader (LL), Hill and Moorland Leader (HML) and Countryside Leader Award (CLA).
All instructors will be experienced and appropriately qualified for the terrain and activity in which they are working.
All instructors working in wild country e.g. on Gold expeditions will be either Summer Mountain Leader or Hill and Moorland Leader holders according to the area.
Instructors will be members of the National Governing Bodies for the activities that they are qualified to deliver such as Mountain Leader Training Association (MLTA), British Canoeing (BC), and Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL).
A copy of our risk management policy can explain this in more detail and will be provided when you book with us.
Safeguarding
All our staff undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check when we engage them to work with us.
Staff are provided with our safeguarding policy when they join us, and safeguarding is inherent in our outdoor practice.
We can provide you with staff DBS information when you book with us.
Insurance
We are a member of Activities Industry Mutual (AIM) who are specialists in providing liability cover for activity providers and as such are fully insured for all programmes we offer.
Our cover includes.
- 10 million insurance liability cover (as is often required by Local authorities)
- Employers Liability Insurance
We will provide you with a copy of our insurance and terms and conditions when you book with us.
Data Protection and GDPR
We are fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulations 2018.
When you book with us we will send you a consent form for your participants, whether it is an adult training course, DofE expedition or other activity.
Our consent forms are kept secure for a specified period according to our data protection policy, insurance, and legal requirements.
Information is shared with our instructors to ensure that they have all the relevant information to support you when out in the great outdoors and we always ensure that this information is returned at the end of the activity or expedition so that it can be stored or destroyed as appropriate.
We will ask you for relevant and up to date information about any conditions, medication, illnesses, or injuries so that we can plan ahead how best to support you, your child or students during our activities. Speaking to us first is often the best way forward if you are in any doubt as to your ability to undertake and activity.
We can provide a copy of our data protection policy on request.
