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From its early beginnings in 2006 to the present day – Outdoor Learning Resources has always been about the provision of high quality equipment and customer service.
In the early days, Anney was running Forest School and Outdoor Learning Training and so every tool and piece of equipment we sold came personally recommended. We are pleased to say that nothing much has changed since then! We use pretty much every item that we stock ourselves in one way or another, either through our passion for the crafts and skills associated with outdoor life, at sessions with children and adults that we have run over the years or in cook-outs or camping adventures with family and friends.
We love being outdoors in all weathers and value having tools and equipment that give the best value for money, last for years and are just a pleasure to use. Sharing our experience seemed like a very natural thing to do. In connection with this, we recognise the work of many schools and other organisations that are working hard to put outdoor learning at the heart of their teaching and training and we love to work with them to enable high quality experiences that will foster a life long love of nature.
We coppice and use the wood from our Monmouthshire woodlands for our range of wooden products.
We are determined to be ethical and sustainable in our choices of stock and we find out as much as we can about where and how products are made. We choose to buy from UK and European based manufacturers as much as we can to try to reduce the carbon footprint of our products. We use recycled boxes and packaging where possible and we try to make our voice heard in terms of our stockists’ use of single use plastics and other unnecessary packaging. Please see our Sustainability Policy for further details on this.
My earliest work experiences were in forestry and agriculture, shortly followed by forming a love of gardening, particularly growing vegetables. After attending horticultural college in the early 1980’s, I worked in organic market gardening and landscape gardening for about ten years before undertaking a degree with the Open University and a PGCE (FE). This led to working at Coleg Gwent in the mid 1990’. Around 2000 I became aware of Forestry Commission Wales’ (FCW) plan to promote Forest School training across Wales, this really appealed and I got on to one of those early training courses. By 2004 I was invited to be a part of the newly formed FCW training team for Forest School, working with them and what was OCN Wales (now Agored Cymru) to help develop the training courses for both Forest School and Outdoor Learning. After some years of directing Cambium Sustainable Landscapes and Training and many FS sessions later; Outdoor Learning Resources (which had been a page on Cambiums’ website for a while) became a small business of its own around 2013. It’s been steadily growing ever since, becoming a limited company in 2022. I've had the pleasure of being able to work alongside other members of my family who have a range of talents that have helped to make OLR the success that it is becoming. My love of the outdoors has not dwindled though, whenever possible I’ll be in the woods, whittling, lighting the fire, or watching the dragonflies, the birds and the sunsets.
Having been involved in the launches of Outdoor Learning Resources in it’s early stages whilst working for Cambium Sustainable, I then spent several years studying information technology and learning as much as I could about web design and marketing, leading to a role in a busy marketing department for a large outdoor goods and pet supplies company (whilst still being on call for OLR for website updates, emergencies and general technical queries!)
Since the growth of the business I returned to OLR in 2020 with more time and focus on improving our users experiences and our digital footprint, I have always had an interest in all things creative including photography, design & content creation. Alongside the day to day jobs of packing orders, managing stock and helping keep on top of the accounts, I am responsible for all of the technical side of things like the website, computer systems and social media as well as design for our printed products.
When I’m not working I enjoy spending time with my husband (Mike) our daughter Grace and the menagerie of animals on our small farm, including dogs, horses, a flock of sheep and the odd pig!
‘When she’s not out in the woods photographing new products Hannah can usually be found behind her laptop preferably with a large cookie and a hot chocolate!’
I have always enjoyed working in the outdoors and initially started out in the building trade, studying carpentry when finishing school alongside working on various farms in our rural area. I now work in forestry and spend several days a week planting and maintaining woodlands alongside my part time work for OLR. Since joining OLR I have developed our range of wooden products which I make in the workshop at our offices. I am also responsible for the maintenance and management of our small woodlands where the wood for our products is sourced. As well as any day to day maintenance around the offices (or manoeuvring of heavy deliveries!)
I enjoy being outdoors in all weathers, spending time with my family (Hannah & Grace) and cooking a pizza in the outdoor pizza oven we installed in the OLR woodlands earlier this year!
‘When his work day is not being sabotaged by someone asking him if he could ‘just move this pile of boxes’ or ‘just look at this leak we’ve got’. Mike can often be found slicing wood cookies in the workshop or making lots of noise with his chainsaw down in the woodlands with his spaniel by his side.’
Alastair & Amy (Anney’s other daughter) run an accountancy practice based in the south-west and have been involved with the bookkeeping and accounts (the dull!) side of OLR since 2020.
However, they frequently make visits to OLR’s offices and woodlands (especially if the pizza-oven is fired) and prefer spending the day outdoors, rather than cooped up in the office.
When not busy crunching numbers, they can usually be found exploring with their trusty Lab Arc the various canal-sides, footpaths and woodlands Somerset and Devon have to offer, and particularly enjoy getting lost in beautiful Exmoor.