North Yorkshire school launches new outdoor pursuits venture

A school in Settle, North Yorkshire has announced plans to open its outdoor pursuits facilities to the public.

Giggleswick School, which was established more than 500 years ago, has a long history of pairing conventional classroom learning with a range of outdoor activities for its pupils, and now locals will be able to make use of the school’s equipment and expertise too.

Courses and events will be on offer throughout the year to fit alongside the pupils’ own extensive sports programme, with activities such as climbing, fellrunning, mountaineering and kayaking on the menu.

Participants will receive training from expert instructors and have the chance to complete qualifications themselves.

The school’s head of outdoor pursuits, Chris Wright, said of the decision: “From now on, everyone can access our outdoor pursuits department.

“This is an exciting development for us, we are opening up the outdoors to a much wider range of people, giving adults and groups of all ages the opportunity to improve their skills and discover new activities.”

Teaching staff from the school will lend their support to the new venture, but Chris is also bringing expert help in from outside and wants to offer a wide range of activity packages.

He explained: “Corporate development days can be arranged, and we can also facilitate guided walks, caving, mountain biking - you name it. We have a range of experienced staff at Giggleswick and we also work with local freelance experts to offer safe and fun activities to all, under our AALS (Adventure Activities Licensing Service) licence.

“We intend to reinvigorate our holiday course provision and develop programmes for adults as well as children during the Easter and summer breaks.”

Giggleswick School’s first publicly-open course is the Hill and Moorland Leader Award, which is scheduled to start on October 26.

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