About Matt's Style

Defining Features of Matt's courses

Human scale: I work with individuals and small, manageable groups to maintain a sense of conviviality that imprints great memories. The venues I use will also have a human scale of site and architecture, leading to a pleasing, family-like environment.

Experiential Learning: I believe that people learn most through their own direct experience. This experience is guided by me to help pass on what I have learned, but I endeavour not to have my own agenda or goals when working with you.

A community learning ethic: Courses typically include likeminded people with different experiences. I will encourage you to learn from each other as well as from me.

Inclusion - “everybody does everything”: All day-to-day activities will be shared by all, including, cooking, cleaning, tidying, kit storage etc. in an expression of common service. It's not right that we should clean up after each other.

Great food and drink!: When food is provided it will be of good quality and sourced as locally as possible using sustainable production methods.

We have become distracted. We are all too busy watching Big Brother or Celebrity This or That while the corporations take the rainforest down, one tree at a time.

While the polluters carry on their merry way, we are sipping our coffee, mulling over which plasma to buy. While Gordon Brown talks green, this government is approving airports, motorways and trying to wriggle out of green energy targets. Yup, we have become comfortably numb to it.

The entertainment industry is keeping the masses quiet. Keeping us from thinking too much about stuff. It used to be opium for the masses, now it’s reality TV. Jeez, how did we get here? We are all part of the problem.

We care. But we are just too busy to say something. The government, the corporations, the polluters must just love us. Protest about nothing. Accept just about everything. The Distracted Nation. “Oh waiter, another latte please.”

(12,090 trees were cut down in the time it took to read this.) Source: Howies

In Safe Hands

Matt is a British Canoe Union Level 4 Coach and has been teaching paddlesports for 23 years. In previous roles as manager of adventure companies he has managed risk and risk-taking to very high levels. Whilst he believes that learning about risk is a postive thing and an essential lifeskill, he maintains the principle that you should plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Technical Support

Matt has supported film crews in demanding locations. Filming, photography or simply accessing hard to get to places can be taxing on time, energy and money. Viewers know when you have taken short cuts and armchair experts will be complaining if you don't get their favourite place, view or angle included. Using experienced technical skills is a pre-requisite - the company wouldn't let you go otherwise - but the high quality difference can be made using local knowledge to lead you. Matt has worked with photographers, film crews, naturalists and scientists, helping them to reach their chosen subjects efficiently and safely. Flexibility has always won over initial agreements, even to the point of being stranded on a remote island!