in-the-air-activity

Get to know Rachel

This term we meet Rachel

Tell us a little about you

Hi, I’m Rachel and I’m a Senior Instructor at Essex Outdoors, Danbury.
I’m 30 (for another 8 years). I adopted a visually impaired Lionhead rabbit called Dylan 3 years ago. He is my shadow when I’m at home and he is affectionately known as ‘Doodlebug’ because he drops lots of bombs!

What do you do at Essex Outdoors?

My biggest achievement has been to establish the successful and increasingly popular Primary school ski trips, which has been running for 4 years. Eight Essex primary schools took part in 2019 and 98 guests experienced a superb week of skiing. All participating schools have signed up again for 2020! If you’d like some more information on the visit or would like to set up a ski visit but don’t know how, email us danbury@essexoutdoors.com. I coordinate the delivery of the Duke of Edinburgh award expeditions (we facilitated 15 Bronze and Silver expeditions in 2019); organise student work experience placements; as well as all the usual Senior Instructor stuff…completing safety checks on activity equipment, training staff, delivering sessions…

What can you tell us about Essex Outdoors that other people might not know?

Essex Outdoors is open all year for anything from a 90-minute taster session to a multi-day residential stay. We build a bespoke package to meet each customers’ needs and each one of our 4 centres has something different to offer.

What’s the most rewarding part of what you do?

Working with a range of different groups is great. The most rewarding visits are those out of the peak season because we really get to know a group and work towards getting the best out of them. We get to develop more specific and specialist programmes to allow participants to really find out what they are capable of. The summer is fun; after all, what’s not to like about summer(!), but winter is where the magic really happens!

When you’re not at work, what are you most likely to be doing?

I enjoy doing lots of different things…Jack of all trades, Master of none!…mountaineering (highest peak; 4554m ‘Signalkuppe’), ski touring (longest trip; 5days off piste, hut to hut tour), rock climbing (longest route; 730m climbing two back to back routes on the Jagihorn), cycling (longest ride; 108km or 67miles), less adventurous achievements include a spot of gardening, teaching myself to knit and crochet, and decorating horseshoes for traditional wedding gifts.