Rob was lucky enough to go to a state school which had a passion for outdoor education; as a pupil of the school he stood on the summit of Snowdon during every New Year holiday, whatever the weather! Based in the South West this interest in the outdoors led to caving adventures in Mendip, climbing in the Avon gorge and early trips to the Alps.
After a university education Rob started his professional life as a teacher and worked in secondary schools and outdoor centres managed by local authorities and a charity outdoor provider. He has been a schoolteacher, youth worker, head of centre, local authority adviser, and was a freelance AALS inspector working in the North West.
During the mid-eighties he attended Charlotte Mason College and was influenced by the work of Colin Morlock. After this period, he was given the opportunity to establish a residential outdoor education centre, which looked at different ways to enrich the curriculum using outdoor education.
Rob has been a member of organisations which support the work of outdoor educators: AHOEC, OEAP, IOL, AMI, and ACI; until recently he was a board member on the Mountain Training England and delivered training and assessment courses.
Rob has a broad base of outdoor interests and has climbed in the UK, the Alps, South America and Africa, led canoe expeditions to Canada, explored caves in the UK, Europe and Asia and spends much of the winter in the Alps ski mountaineering and climbing. His newly found passion is sea kayaking.
Rob has a first degree in education, a Postgraduate Certificate in Outdoor Education and high-level awards in mountaineering, caving, and canoeing.