Wildside Outdoors was founded by Rob Balchin and Nicola Hayes. Between them they realised they shared not only a love of the outdoors, but a passion for introducing young people to the benefits of outdoor adventure activities. They decided to pool their skill sets, bringing together an excellence in running processes and organisations, years of experience in coaching and developing young people, and a want to do things better – Wildside Outdoors was born.
Our stringent recruitment policy means that all staff are DBS checked, trained and suitable for their role. We choose those people we work with who adhere to our values.
We have a thorough safety management system. We recognise that genuine adventure is unpredictable and involves an element of risk. Our focus is on how to manage risk to a tolerable level; no outdoor organisation should work under the pretence that risk can be eliminated.
Rob is our Business Director. During his professional life he has advised hundreds of firms from large multinationals to entrepreneurial ventures. He brings many years of experience in running projects, managing risk and delivering effective solutions.
Joss is our Expedition Director. Having completed all levels of the award and being involved with the Army Cadet Force, Joss went on to do a degree in Outdoor Education at the University of Cumbria. He has worked across the Outdoor Industry for numerous providers and brings that experience to the role.
