OUR ADVENTURE WEEKEND TEAM

In between British Exploring Society expeditions Susannah has worked in a number of roles, from Lecturing in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, to Duty Managing a small theatre and setting up a Youth Rowing charity in East Anglia. She has also undertaken personal adventures by boat, foot and bicycle; and firmly believing there is nothing quite so good as messing about in boats, she has rowed across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

In 2021, Alistair was the Base Camp Manager for a 4-week British Exploring Society Expedition in Scotland. Since then, he’s been all over the world hiking, with a recent 6-week trek through Patagonia. He’s also led walks in the stunning Italian Dolomites for two summers. When he’s not outdoors, Alistair is busy trying to make the trains run on time as a Project Manager for Network Rail.

Andrew developed adventure activities with the young people and communities of Cardiff for 25 years. He has lead youth expeditions in the UK & Ghana and for British Exploring Society in the Amazon, Himalayas, Dartmoor and Cairngorms. Many of his personal expeditions have involved kayaking or caving in Alaska, Californian channel islands, New Zealand, Thai Andaman coast, Gulf of Thailand islands groups, Croatian islands, French Vercor & Alps, plus many of the UK mountains and coastlines. Andrew is an Advanced First Aider for Cave Rescue, coaches at his local canoe and Sailability clubs.

Since then, Andy has led every year with British Exploring Society as an Adventure leader and Knowledge leader in Scotland, and most recently Deputy Chief Leader in Kyrgyzstan and Iceland. Andy has seen first-hand how young people are able to grow and develop when taken outside of their everyday lives and immersed in a challenging environment - as a result, he is dedicated to ensuring that as many young people as possible, regardless of background or circumstance, have the opportunity to do just that. When not leading for British Exploring, Andy can be found leading expeditions and climbing adventures across the UK, working to support youth crime reduction initiatives in Sheffield and Manchester, and supporting the work of the humanitarian charity ShelterBox as a member of their response team.

Expeditions have become a staple of his life, pursing various obscure long trails, delving into mountaineering, and crashing into skiing. The Outdoors has given Angus a lifestyle, profession, and family. Now he seeks to return the favour, advocating for its protection, and encouraging engagement. Working as a guide in New Zealand, Angus was involved in local conservation efforts and acted as an educator for those new to the environment. Throughout his 7 years leading groups in the outdoors, he has continuously seen the benefits individuals gain in the space, pushing their boundaries and broadening their imaginations. Angus is excited to see these next adventures with British Exploring Society through with the same enthusiasm he found in the outdoors as a child.

After teaching English in Colombia, he decided to undertake a doctorate in Social Anthropology (the study of human culture, society, politics and environment) which he continues to teach today. He's an obsessive music listener, loves swimming in rivers, and enjoys imagining that he's running ultra marathons during his 10k park runs. He hopes to combine his academic interests and educational vocation with the love of the outdoors as a knowledge leader with British Exploring Society.

A lot of her work involves working alongside communities to help protect and look after their local nature reserves, as well as helping people connect and learn about these beautiful places. She became a Leader with British Exploring Society in 2024 after spending an amazing summer in Yukon Canada as a young explorer in 2019. Being a young explorer on expedition gave her the confidence to start solo exploring, hiking and camping around the Lake District, Scotland, Ireland, and even Madeira. She returned as a Knowledge Leader in the Hartz Highlands expedition in 2024 and is looking forwards to many more adventures.

Currently, she has a portfolio career that's centred around developing confidence in others, something she struggled with a lot growing up. With a background in leadership development, career change and community building she uses her network and experiences to help others design the life they want and figure out what steps will get them one step closer to their goals. Outside of work, you can find her playing tag rugby, learning Spanish or walking her parent's two crazy Spaniels. Or working on a personal project (Project 50) where she aims to learn 50 new skills from scratch!

He is also a Music Teacher at Links Media College; an alternative education provision for 14-19 year olds. Joel's experience includes duties for projects such as NCS, The Young Urban Arts Foundation and More Than Music, working alongside various London Boroughs to enhance the support on offer to young people in London. Joel was born on a council estate in Essex before moving to London in 2012 to fulfil his goal of breaking through as a Musical Artist. During this time, Joel endured, and survived, 5 years of street homelessness. Whilst accomplishing his personal goals, Joel has put equal focus into developing young people with the aim to give them what he needed as a disadvantaged teenager. Joel states that his purpose is: "To be the person that he needed".

In 2019 Louise left the corporate world behind and spent a year in South and Central America visiting 11 countries, walking the Inca Trail and volunteering with a marine conservation project to protect the coral reefs in Mexico. She was also part of the team leading a 3 month-long expedition for young volunteers in Costa Rica. She has also been on three British Exploring Society expeditions - Scottish Highlands in 2021 and Iceland in 2022, and Kyrgyzstan in 2023.

Throughout her medical career she has focussed on working with children and young adults in both physical and psychiatric hospitals, especially those who have faced additional challenges in accessing education and healthcare services. Lucy is a keen sportswoman and thrives on adventures in remote environments. Her adventure highlights include hiking across Costa Rica and the Andes or white-water kayaking expeditions in the Alps. Outside of the UK Lucy has worked with young people in orphanages in Argentina and has participated and benefitted from outdoor youth development programmes in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Lucy is keen to give back and support the development of young people through their engagement with the outdoors.