Rochdale Adventure Trust set to launch

Bushcraft, survival and wilderness living skills trainer Graham Fitton

A new venture to encourage people to enjoy the great outdoors more often and to teach them survival skills is set to launch.

Rochdale Connections Trust is behind the idea of the Rochdale Adventure Trust. Kathy Thomas, Chief Executive of Rochdale Connections Trust, said: “We think the benefits of going for a walk or just going outside to chill are important so we thought we would try and encourage people to do that a bit more by offering them this.”

A variety of activities will be offered including a selection of one day courses such as foraging and fire lighting, wood carving, traps and snares and a family day out course.

Kathy added: “The courses will teach people the skills of how to survive outdoors. It will show them foods that they can and cannot eat, how to start a fire, how to catch food and a variety of other skills.”

The Trust has access to a number of woods to host these courses.

“We can use woods in Radcliffe and we have been granted access to some private woods as well so people will be able to go round the woods and really get involved,” said Kathy.

As well as offering courses to people, the Adventure Trust will also have a commercial side to it offering events and activities for people outside of the Trust. This will include things like team building days.

Kathy added: “With the commercial side we are hoping to generate money to go back in to the charity. We want to be able to offer things for groups of people so that could be team building things for work colleagues or family activities.”

Activities and courses will be run by fully qualified bushcraft, survival and wilderness living skills trainer Graham Fitton - Graham currently works for Rochdale Connections Trust.

Graham had his first survival experience at 10 years old. He ran away with two tins of beans and half a packet of sugar puffs. He lasted four days. A couple of years later he started to study animals and their habitats and learnt how to trap and snare. At 16, he joined the army and developed his passion for climbing. After leaving the army, Graham completed MLTE and SPA training and has taught climbing and moorland/mountain walking.

“Graham has taken some of our young people out to do things like this before and they have really enjoyed it,” said Kathy.

Rochdale Connections Trust hopes to launch the Adventure Trust in mid July. Anyone interested or looking for more information can contact Kathy on 01706 345111.