Members

Jane Campbell Morrison MBE – Chair

Jane started teaching skiing and sailing in 1985 in Scotland, at Port Edgar Sailing School and with Carrbridge Ski School. As time evolved, she became more involved with the outdoor industry as a whole through full-time roles undertaken with RYA Scotland as the Development Manager,  then as CEO of Snowsport Scotland. She volunteered to support all of the outdoor Scottish Governing Bodies through the Scottish Sports Association and maintains regular contact with both the SSA and the SGBs. She became a member of SAAF in the late 1990s, working with the late Alan Blackshaw and Iain Davenport to build and develop SAAF and raise awareness of the organisation. She was the chair of SAAF from mid 2013 until early 2016, and became the chair of SAAF again from December 2019. In 2016, Jane became the Senior Inspector (Scotland) for the Adventure Activities Licensing Service, and remained in this role until April 2020, giving her a unique insight into the challenges faced by the adventure industry and the relationships that need to be built to ensure the industry is sustainable environmentally and financially. Jane is currently a freelance sailing and powerboat Trainer, as well as being a Technical and Business advisor and works all over Scotland.

Myles Farnbank

For 15 years Myles was Head of Guides & Training for one of the UK’s leading adventure travel companies – Wilderness Scotland.  Myles has over 30 years experience of working in the outdoor sector and has personal experience of sea kayaking, canoeing, sailing and mountaineering in many of the worlds wildest places. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of the Tourism Society. As well as his work in adventure travel, Myles has been a head of an outdoor education centre, Professional Development Coordinator (Scotland) for the Institute for Outdoor Learning, Scotland Manager for the Wilderness Foundation UK, youth development worker, and an adventure & marine tourism lecturer.  He is a Leading Practitioner of The Institute for Outdoor Learning and a Coach & Assessor for the RPIOL, APIOL & LPIOL awards.  In recent years he has become a consultant to adventure travel businesses and DMO’s around the world. He is very involved in staff training, both bespoke and ‘off the-shelf’ products for practitioner and academic audiences. His main area of current work is in adventure guide training both in the UK and overseas.  This includes creating the UK’s first Adventure Guide training programme.  He is the UK representative on the executive committee for the Adventure Travel Guide Standard.  He was involved in the creation of British Canoeing’s Guide Endorsement scheme and the creation of the Adventure WiSe course for the WiSe Scheme, the UK’s National Training Scheme for minimising disturbance to marine wildlife. Since Oct 2022 Myles has been a Lecturer in Outdoor Learning based in the Institute of Science and the Environment at The University of Cumbria in Ambleside.

 

Debbie Williams – Treasurer

Debbie is a director of Glencoe Outdoor Centre, which is operated by an independent charity, operating in this role since 1988.  Based in the West Highlands of Scotland, the Centre provides residential outdoor learning programmes to schools and youth groups. Her personal passion in outdoor activities is for skiing and sailing. She is an RYA Yacht Master Instructor, Senior & Advanced Dinghy Instructor and Principal of the Centre’s RYA recognised Training Centre. Debbie is committed to making Outdoor Education Modern Apprenticeships (MA) available to young people seeking a route into the outdoor industry. She has worked with the West Highland College UHI and other West Highland outdoor providers to further this aim, Glencoe Outdoor Centre is an SDS contracted MA provider. Debbie is also a member of IOL Scotland committee. In line with her desire for continued professional development,  she is an Accredited Professional of Institute of Outdoor Learning (APIOL) and mentors aspirant APIOL candidates, maintains a coaching award for paddlesports and has recently become a SUP coach.

 

Richard Cooke

Richard studied Outdoor Education at Moray House, The University of Edinburgh in 2002. Since then, he has worked as a development tutor, training manager, and most recently in operational management/leadership roles for third sector youth organisations in Scotland.

Richard is a Leading Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (LPIOL) and holds a wide variety of outdoor leadership and coaching qualifications. Currently, he runs a Coaching, Training and Consulting business and freelances for organisations within outdoor learning and youth development. He is a passionate active paddler, biker and mountaineer and enjoys sharing these activities with family.

 

Susi McLarty

Susi has 30 years of experience, studying and working in the outdoor, hospitality and leisure industry in an eclectic mix of roles, within the private and third sector. From watersports centre manager, offshore survival instructor, Active Schools Coordinator to her current role as Outdoor and Adventurous Activity Team Leader for Aberdeenshire Council, Live Life Outdoor Service.

Her current role sees her supporting Outdoor and Adventurous Activity across Aberdeenshire Council. Managing a residential centre, mobile activity and ski centres, she also oversees the delivery of inhouse outdoor training, managing approved providers, AALA license and the Health and Safety of excursions. Working closely with schools, internal and external partners to deliver a first class safe programme of activity.

Susi loves the great outdoors and has a real passion for caring for the natural environment we are fortunate to have around us.

In her spare time she loves exploring the wonderful North East of Scotland in all weathers with her children, going to the beach, spending time on and in the water, collecting sea glass and litter picking!

Lee Musson

Lee runs a 200 bed outdoor centre in the Borders for Rock UK who also have 2 centres in England and 1 in Wales. He is also the technical director for Rock UK as a whole, with overall responsibility for oversight of the activity provision at all four centres. He therefore regularly spend time at all four centres. He is involved with CPAS Ventures who run summer camps for around 400 children every summer with entirely volunteer leaders, CPAS hold an AALA licence and he advises them on matters relating to licenced activities. He visits the camps during the summer and attend planning and training events with their volunteers during the year. He runs the Rock UK Instructor Training Programme taking around 24 young adults each year and training them to be Outdoor Instructors for the centres. This is a two year programme including an initial 3 months of intensive training in Scotland and a two week trip to Lesotho to work with orphaned children. He also works freelance from time to time for Climb 365 providing climbing/scrambling guiding to individual clients and also working on ML and RCI training courses.

 

Mike Strang – Vice Chair

Mike is Chief Executive of Youth Scotland, Scotland’s network of Youth Clubs, previously Director of Operations at Venture Trust a charity offering Wilderness personal development programmes. A life long advocate of experiential learning, outdoor learning and youth work.

Mike is a Leading Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning (LPIOL) and recently retired Chair of IOL Alba. Mike holds a BA in Outdoor Education in the Community, a wide range of outdoor leadership and instructional qualifications, is Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming and a certified practitioner in Choice Theory and Reality Therapy.

Chair of the National Youth Voluntary Organisations Scotland (NYVOS), championing the value of the youth work and outdoor learning sector, challenging government at national and local levels to invest in your development.

Mike is also a busy Outdoor dad and enjoys adventuring with his little people… open canoe is the preferred adventure mode.

 

Roger Scrutton

I am Honorary Research Fellow in Outdoor and Environmental Education at the University of Edinburgh.  Prior to that I was Reader in Geophysics at Edinburgh.

 Principal adventure activity: orienteering, as coach, event organiser, event controller, Trustee of the Orienteering Foundation and formerly President of Scottish Orienteering. Also delivering outdoor learning to school pupils and CPD in outdoor learning to teachers as part of the Royal Society of Edinburgh public engagement programme.  Chair of Trustees, Friends of Benmore Outdoor Centre.

 

Shaun Roberts

Shaun is Principal at Glenmore Lodge – sportscotland’s National Outdoor Training Centre.

 

Nick March

Nick is Operations Manager for Outdoor Learning Edinburgh’s Lagganlia centre.  He is the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres (AHOEC) Regional Chair for Scotland.

 

Liam Watson

 

Stewart Atkinson

Stewart loves to share the outdoors with others and has been working professionally in the sector for 15+ years. His company,  OutdoorClassrooms.Scot Ltd, helps schools build capacity for deliberate and curriculum focussed outdoor learning in a sustainable, whole-school and place-centric way.

In addition to various leadership, guiding, coaching, instructional and trainer qualifications in both water and land-based adventurous activities, Stewart also has an Masters Degree in Outdoor Education from The University of Edinburgh. Throughout his career he has worked in a variety of roles across organisations including schools, local authorities, independent education establishments, third sector organisations and charities.

In his spare time he is volunteer lifeboat crew with the RNLI and enjoys walking his dog Murphy.

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