The Map Room

I first sat in the spectacular map room at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) sixteen years ago when training to plan and manage expeditions with groups of young people, which I was fortunate to be doing on behalf of the Armed Forces Charity, SSAFA.

Meeting other professionals (many of them qualified Expedition Leaders and Mountain Leaders) who were passionate about enabling others to access the natural world through adventure was really thrilling. In the years that followed, I completed my Masters in Social Work, and found the training and resources from the RGS was crucial in my delivery of a Nationwide programme of adventure based therapeutic support services for children and adults as well as in my development of new ways to practice Social Work. One project in particular won a Social Worker of the Year Award for Innovative Practice.

Later in my career, managing services in the voluntary sector and working with communities to develop their own social solutions, my Social Work practice leant more heavily towards Human Geography; conducting research, accessing mapped communities data, securing resources for projects and ultimately convening and hosting conferences in Whitehall (MOD & DH) to advocate for policy change in education, health and housing.

In recent years, I've returned to a more direct approach, with my hands in the dirt and my feet in the water and @the.houseoutside has given me and the individuals and organisations I'm working with the opportunity to explore different ways of understanding what an adventure is as well as different ways to 'do Social Work'.

In 2024 I was very proud to become an 'FRGS', a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Becoming a Fellow of the RGS makes me immensely proud. I feel very fortunate to have gained the knowledge and experience that I have in my working life, but it offers something far more important than pride.

In attending lectures, working in the Foyle reading room and meeting other Members and Fellows, I've been inspired to work in new ways, thinking creatively and being creative, across disciplines and with a renewed passion to tackle social and environmental inequality through adventure and access to the natural world. I hope that it will continue to inspire and excite me about exploring the world around me and helping others to explore the world around them.