Finally some good news and we have a lot to share!

April – All our April courses will be run in Murthly, Perthshire. We have the following courses (also pictured below) available to book on:

For those wanting to focus more on survival skills we have full day survival courses available for Under 18s only and Over 18s, you can book your place following this link https://www.backcountrysurvival.co.uk/…/survival-courses/

May onwards:

1) May will see us back up at our Alvie Estate so all 2-3 Day courses will be back up and running open to everyone from all areas. You can book your place following this link https://www.backcountrysurvival.co.uk/cou…/summer-courses/

2) May will also see our Woodland Skills Leader course going ahead over the 21st – 24th May with Andy Lewis Bushcraft. If you are interested in delivering woodland & bushcraft skills or are a teacher, scout leader, outdoor instructor or youth worker who wishes to deliver woodland skills, such as Bushcraft & Survival activities then this course is for you. Anyone interested will have to email info@backcountrysurvival.co.uk showing leadership experience and other NGBs or teaching/coaching qualifications as well as any Bushcraft/Survival experience. https://www.backcountrysurvival.co.uk/…/training-courses/

Last but no means least, it’s Andy Lewis. He owns Andy Lewis Bushcraft and works with us to offer many of our courses, including the Woodland Skills Leader:

Meet Andy, an adventurer and passionate Survival Skills expert. As a hugely experienced Bushcraft and Survival Instructor Andy has spent time in some of the most remote and extreme environments in the world; including the Nepalese Himalayas and Norway’s Mountainous Hardangervidda wilderness. Andy is a qualified Mountain Leader and a former expedition co-ordinator, he is a full-time professional instructor of the highest calibre, delivering IOL accredited instructor training, regular courses, one-to-one skills training and bespoke, with us but mainly with his own company ‘Andy Lewis Training’ based on the Cheshire border.

“Be prepared and learn skills for life” is the ethos he lives, works and inspires others by

Up next on ‘Meet the Team’ segment is instructor Graeme Stuart aka ‘Grumps’.

Graeme grew up in rural Perthshire alongside Graham and Derek. He spent a lot of time in the outdoors which led to a full career in the forces. Graeme spent time in Norway competing in Biathlon and various other locations helping facilitate adventure training activities for various units. Amongst other things, Graeme is a qualified 4×4 instructor, clay pigeon shooting instructor and also a water sports instructor, including stand-up paddle boarding. Graeme has been an instructor with BCS for 5 years

Up next on our “Meet the Team” segment is instructor Neil Foote. From mountaineering routes and North faces in the Alps to extreme endurance races in the most inhospitable places in the world, Including having competed ultra-marathons at a distance of 95 miles non stop. You can be sure that Neil (or any of our other instructors) will not ask you to do anything he hasn’t had to do himself. Originally from Fife Neil’s formative years were spent camping and exploring the local woods and countryside where he lived, learning the skills that would hold him in good stead for the future. Neil has a background in outdoor education and holds his SIA (Survival instructor award) and is one of the founding members of the Survival Training Award Scheme. Neil is also a qualified SPA, Mountain leader, winter mountain leader and UKCC paddlesport coach.

‘Meet the Team’ segment continued with the final member of the Robertson instructor trio; Michael Robertson.Michael has been an instructor at BCS for 3 years, he is a qualified Woodland Skills Leader and a Land-Based Survival Instructor.

Michael grew up as a military child, this saw most of his childhood in the woods or up a mountain. Michael’s teenage years saw him in the Army Cadets which provided him with navigational skills, instructional and leadership skills and helped him pursue his career in the Army. He is now serving as a Royal Engineer, spending his free time rock climbing, mountain biking or instructing survival.

Up next on the “Meet the Team” segment is Instructor and our Social Media Guru, Abigail Robertson. Abi has been an instructor at BCS for 3 years, she is a qualified Woodland Skills Leader and a Land-Based Survival Instructor. Abi grew up as a military child, this saw most of her childhood in the woods or up a mountain. She has been an Army Cadet Instructor for the Black Watch Battalion for 5 years which has allowed for her Adventure Training, Instructional and Navigational skills and experience to be expanded. With a love of mountain biking, rock climbing, hiking mountains and skiing, Abi has a lot of experience in the outdoors.

Next up on our ‘Meet the Team’ segment is Director and Instructor Derek Robertson.

Derek grew up in Northern Perthshire along with Graham Melloy the Chief Instructor and Graeme Stuart and spent his younger days in the woods and hills around Tayside fishing, hunting and shooting as well as learning the outdoor ways from farmers, gamekeepers and woodsmen and did his first survival course with the Army Cadets in 1986. His love of survival continued with a full career in the Army serving in all corners of the world. He holds the Woodland Skills Leader (WSL) and Land-Based Survival Instructor (LSI) awards as well as mountaineering, skiing and teaching qualifications.

One of Derek’s favourite survival quotes is “Learning is not compulsory…neither is survival” – W. Edwards Deming

It’s always good to know who you’re booking onto a course with, so we are going to do a ‘Meet the BCS Ltd Team’ segment starting off with Director and Chief Instructor Graham Melloy.

Graham grew up in Northern Perthshire and spent a lot of his formative years fishing, hunting and shooting as well as learning the outdoor ways in the woods and hills along the River Tay from farmers, gamekeepers and woodsmen and did his first survival course with the Army Cadets in 1986. His love of survival continued with a full career in the Army where he completed several SERE courses including the Land Survival Instructor Course and the Unit SERE Instructor Course. He has been a navigation instructor for over 20 years and has navigated in all corners of the world. He holds the NCFE Defence SERE Advanced Survival Instructor Award, the NCFE SIA Level 4 award as well as winter mountaineering and teaching qualifications.Graham has conducted survival training in various corners of the globe including the South Atlantic, Europe, Mediterranean, Middle East & Asia and Africa.

Due to the current situation, all courses in March have been cancelled. We will are waiting until the next announcement from the First Minister which will give us confirmation over whether our April courses will be going ahead.