My own Journey to the now,

After college and University where I focused on learning about the outdoors, I spent time coppicing woodlands gaining lots of practical experience. Following this I decided to redirect my career and found a role working at a therapeutic residential children’s home.

Here I gained a vast amount of knowledge working with extremely vulnerable young people with a range of emotional and behavioural issues. I had opportunities to participate in training courses and complete formal qualifications. My role developed within the organisation where I became a senior, supervisor and acting deputy. I truly believe it was here that I learnt the most about myself through supervision, self-reflection and how best I could support these amazing young people. I realised that relationships, connections and resilience were something I was good at I like to believe that this was reflected in the progress of the young people I supported.

I moved on at a time in my life when home life needed to take priority and found a role in a large secondary school. This led to one of the most challenging times our young people have faced, COVID-19, supporting young people during this time was vital as many mental health conditions were intensified. My role was within the pastoral team supporting disengaged and challenging young people. Here I was able to run small focus groups incorporating our onsite woodland. It was here that I started to develop the understanding that this combination of nature and mental health support was a winning combination. Those who couldn’t seem to succeed in the classroom and were highlighted for negative behaviour excelled outdoors and began to open up and become vulnerable to others exploring their feelings and emotions.

I decided to gain a qualification as a forest school leader but while on this journey I approached Sonia at The Next Steps Forward and we decided to combine our knowledge and experience to expand and develop her equine therapy service to incorporate the knowledge I was learning as a forest school leader.

So this is where I find myself, currently using The Next Steps Forwards site to offer outdoor therapy to all.