Founders Experience

Celebrating Diversity.. are we?

I have been asking this question of the outdoor education & environmental sector for over 30 years and the very reason I founded Backbone CiC: Celebrating Diversity Through Adventure.

I am the Operations Director at Backbone CiC, an experienced and qualified outdoor education practitioner, my chosen profession since 1979. I deliberately use the words experienced and qualified as they are credentials that are highly regarded in our profession. However, for me that has not always been the case. On this page I share some Experiences of my time in the sector so that we may learn from our past:

These experiences are one of the driving forces behind the making of Backbone CiC. It was set up to directly remove inequalities allowing everyone access to the great outdoors and all it has to offer. A place where people come together to share commonalities and celebrate uniqueness.

Today, I continue to ask the question; has our sector learnt from the past? In my job as the Founder & Operations Director of Backbone CiC: Celebrating Diversity Through Adventure, I continue to be disturbed by some of my recent experiences of inequality. Backbone CiC supports the sector to develop an inclusive approach. When engaging with organisations we believe and trust organisations to have a genuine intention to action change. However, this has not always been the case, like many Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic organisations, Backbone CiC continues to be taken advantage of to tick the correct diversity box, to access funding and to use our expertise to develop in-house solutions.