Administration

Activity Assistant

Alana is often, but not always, office based. Mostly she deals with all our accounts, administration and marketing duties. Prior to Wild by Nature Alana's knowledge and experience of the outdoors was very limited. Since joining our team, her love and enthusiasm for canoeing and the countryside has grown rapidly, to the extent that she joins the outdoor leaders on canoe safaris whenever possible.

Alana oversees the office and makes sure it runs efficiently so the Outdoor Team can keep their main focus on providing fantastic, educational trips for all Wild by Nature clients. Alana also assists on some activities and in particular does casualty simulations on the Outdoor First Aid courses.

She loves going for long walks with her partner Martin and working Cocker Spaniel, Harvey, who has also joined in on a few Wild by Nature bushcraft days and loved every minute!

Sea Safari Guide

General Activities

Consultancy

Archie is our dedicated sea safari guide and is also involved with some of our other experiences. Having been in outdoor education all of his professional life, Archie has over 35 years experience in facilitating outdoor activities for a wide variety of clients and groups. In the past, he has worked on the delivery of adventure activities as an instructor and also as an outdoor advisor for Glasgow City, along with running the well-respected “Drum Adventure” outdoor Initiative. Archie is qualified in many areas, but his main passion and specialism has always been sea kayaking. He has led several committing expeditions around and ‘off’ the Scottish coast, and in the 1980s trained and assessed candidates for the Scottish Canoe Association (SCA) Advanced Sea Award.

Although he remains an (SCA) Advanced Sea Expedition Leader, he now prefers to lead people on novice and moderate trips and enjoys sharing his knowledge, skills and experience with others. He is proud of his Scottish heritage and is very at home exploring the scenic and often intimate Scottish coastline with you, our guests.

As you may guess, Archie lives on the coast - in Helensburgh with his wife and two children. As well as his interest in Scottish traditional heritage, his other pastimes include gardening, DIY and singing with the Helensburgh Dorian Choir.

Canoe Safari Guide

General Activities

Consultancy

Cliff’s main focus is with the canoe safaris and on overseeing the general direction of Wild by Nature, but he also gets involved with some of our other experiences. Prior to gaining his degree in Outdoor Adventure from Strathclyde University in 1995, Cliff served with the Royal Marine Commandos, and therefore gained some useful experiences in working as part of a team under pressure. Cliff has had an unusual career so far: he has worked for some 20 years as an outdoor professional, which has included adopting the classic role of an instructor at various centres. He has also been a college lecturer, a technical advisor and at one point, he was key worker associated with outdoor therapy and rehabilitation with Tony at the Airborne Initiative. Latterly he has also worked alongside Bob and Archie at Drum Adventure.

For around eight years he worked overseas as a canoe guide in Thailand, Burma and Africa along with being contracted to run expeditions for schools and youths worldwide.

Cliff lives in Glasgow. Loves people, heritage and nature; likes Archaeology and sunshine on autumn days; dislikes getting malaria.

First Aid Courses

Paddlesports Coach

Canoe Safari Guide

Activities

George runs our first aid courses.

He is a senior trainer with Rescue Emergency Care (REC) and a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMSI).

After working as a meteorologist in the Antarctic and later for the Met Office as a weather forecaster, he now divides his time between running first aid courses and playing outside in boats.

He has recently sea kayaked round the Outer Hebrides, crossed Rannoch Moor in an open canoe and is shortly heading back to Nepal to fall down some world class whitewater.

Webmaster

Activity Assistant

Stephen basically loves the Out-of-doors and is a keen runner and walker.

He has been involved with Wild by Nature for three years, where he initially came along on some canoe trips and day excursions. Stephen is the guy who has created and maintains the web site, and troubleshoots any IT issues. From time to time, you may also see him helping out.

Recently he gained the REC First Aid qualification and regularly attend staff jollies.

Stephen is training for a marathon at the moment (Hoping to secure a place in the Virgin London Marathon and if not will run in Edinburgh) and has just recently become a cyclist.

Bushcraft & Survival

Assistant Guide

General Activities

Thomas’s (Tam) main focus is on bushcraft and survival. He also gets involved with some of our other experiences. Thomas is engaged on our Outdoor Apprentice scheme. He is concentrating on developing a balance of professional core skills, outdoor hard skills and qualifications needed for a career in Outdoor Adventure.

He has always loved the great out-of-doors - whether that is just exploring the countryside or scrambling to gain a high peak. Although his skills and growing qualifications allow him to assist or provide a range of activities, he is most comfortable running bushcraft type experiences.

He loves documentaries, good food and dog walking. He hates parking tickets and paperwork. Lives in Kirkintilloch with his partner Louise and Staffordshire-Collie cross dog Tess. (You may meet Tess on some days out)

Canoe Guide

Activities

Consultancy

Tony is Kenyan by birth and his first outdoor experiences were with his family out in the African bush. After ten years in Kenya, he completed school and college in England prior to joining the British Army initially as an infantry soldier and later becoming a Physical Training Instructor for the elite Physical Army Training Corps. It was during this period that Tony took any opportunity to climb, ski or paddle and he became more aware of his desire to nurture and train others and his love for the Out of Doors.

After leaving his Army job as a Chief Instructor, he became a civilian instructor for the Joint Service Mountain Training Centre, which provided a range of adventurous courses for service personnel. Tony was one of the most qualified adventure training instructors and had excellent command qualities obtaining the rank of Warrant Officer. Tony transferred to a civilian context with ease and went on to successfully manage the Loch Inch Water Sports Centre and Ski School. Along with being Chief Instructor and later manager of the unique Airborne Initiative, he devised a successful programme in cognitive behavioural training, employment skills and challenging outdoor activity to change participants’ offending behaviour.