One of the big things in my life is Girlguiding. I’ve been a volunteer for eleven and a half years now. Well, no, I’ve been an adult leader for eleven and a half years now. I was an occasional unit helper while I was away at university and I was a Young Leader for a … More Inspiring kids: introduction to fencing
All Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have five homes around the world, the World Centres. We have one of them right here in London, Pax Lodge, and I spent the Thinking Day weekend there. Thinking Day is the most important day in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)’s calendar – it’s … More Turn Back Time: A Pax Lodge Challenge Around London
Sparkle & Ice is Girlguiding’s big winter survival camp event. This was its third year and also my third year there. Sparkle & Ice happens at three training & activity centres simultaneously – Waddow in Lancashire, Blackland Farm in Sussex and Foxlease in Hampshire. I took my Rangers to Foxlease and the adventure started with … More Sparkle & Ice 2019: Sparkle & Ice was sparkly and icy!
The first time you hear the words “camping” and “Iceland” in the same sentence, it doesn’t sound appealing. When you’ve been there in the summer and seen how solid-roof accommodation both fills up and becomes stupidly expensive, suddenly camping in Iceland looks like a better idea. Here are a few things to know about camping … More The A-Z of Iceland: Camping
Last year, I wrote a book. You might not know this because I don’t advertise it as heavily as maybe I should. I was inspired by TV’s Alexander Armstrong, who made a documentary series on ITV on a similar journey, Norway to Alaska via the Arctic, and then wrote (or possibly “wrote”) a tie-in book. … More I wrote a book: an update a year on
I don’t talk enough about my outdoors adventures here – actually, the truth is I don’t have enough outdoors adventures. In 2019 I’m going to have more of them, I promise. You may or may not know that I have an archery qualification and more recently, a fencing qualification and recently the opportunity came up … More “It’s an emergency. We need some salads carrying”
Back in 2002, I went on a school trip to Russia. I’ve written about part 1 (Moscow) here and part 2 (St Petersburg) here – but there’s more! Earlier in the year, I rediscovered a stack of boxes under my bed, containing assorted precious things from my schooldays, mostly. If I’d stopped to think about … More Documenting Russia 2002
Last week I told you about becoming a British Fencing Core Coach but at the same event, Try Inspire Qualify, I also – much to my own surprise – became a tennis coach with She Rallies. This is Sunday. So, with the fencing qualification done on Saturday, we still had another day. Part of this … More I’m a tennis coach!
I spent last weekend at a training event and the upshot of it is – I’m now a qualified fencing coach! It’s the most exciting thing to happen to me since I attended the same event two years ago and became an archery instructor. I can now reach teenagers two weapons and I have the … More I’m a fencing coach!
The year was 2012 and I was in Mayrhofen, at the Altitude Comedy Festival. The idea is to ski or snowboard all day and then watch comedy all night. A winning combination – except that I’m not very good at snowboarding and I can’t ski to save my life. I opted for snowboarding lessons – … More My first high-altitude paraglide
I Am A Polar Bear 