The Outdoor Connection 2026 - Meet Our Facilitators and Event Team
It’s nearly time for The Outdoor Connection 2026! Taking place from the 24th - 26th April this year’s event will be hosted at YHA Ilam Hall nestled in the south of the Peak District National Park.
The Outdoor Connection is an in-person event bringing together the experts and community leaders who are shaping the future of an inclusive, accessible and representative UK outdoors. Run in partnership between All The Elements and YHA Outdoor Citizens.
The event wouldn’t be possible without the knowledge, generosity, and energy of all of the wonderful attendees, facilitators and wider team involved. Everyone joining the event has knowledge to share and their own expertise to bring, which is why all the sessions we run are workshop based to enable learnings and insights to be widely shared. We also recognise the value of this contribution and a daily rate is paid to all attendees.
If you’re joining us there we can’t wait to welcome you! If not don’t worry we’ll be sharing learnings and insights from the sessions after the event, sign up to our newsletter to make sure you don’t miss them.
Our 2026 Facilitators
Jenny Archard (she/her)
Jenny is a group facilitator, forest school leader, community worker, wilderness guide and AuADHD outdoors woman. She lives in a small village in East Devon, UK, between the sea and the Blackdown Hills. Collaboration, communities of practice and co-creating are core to her way in the world.
She is a co-founder of Neroche Woodlanders, a small social enterprise in the forest and has a Master of Research in Outdoor Learning. She is currently finding new directions post burnout - training as a mentor and coach, working for a small community-work charity and bringing her circle offerings to the challenges of our times.
Jenny will be facilitating the session: Outdoor Practice Circle: Reflect, Share, Grow.
Bean Mhi Berriman (she/her)
Bean Mhi is a self-taught illustrator, textiles artist and natural dyer who currently works as a freelance facilitator, with an interest in community arts and textiles and an emphasis on holding space for conversations around mental well-being and leaning into the beauty in everyday living.
Her practice has grown from my love for the natural world and its wonder, continually exploring sustainable art practices and how to tap into the existing knowledge and joy that communities hold.
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
Bean Mhi is facilitating the Regional Networking: Midlands and East through “a communal patchwork banner”.
Mike Bird (he/they)
Mike is neurodivergent and has spent a lifetime outdoors. From exploring Thurstaston Hill as a child to teaching mountain walking, sailing, bushcraft, and outdoor skills across Wirral, Wales, and the Peak District, nature has always been both his home and work.
After eight years teaching in Essex he returned to Wirral as chief instructor at Wirral Sailing Centre. The loss of his father, and later his mother, became a turning point — this grief deepened his understanding of what nature and community can offer people in their hardest moments.
That experience, alongside twenty-five years of outdoor education, became the foundation of Wirral Forest: Wellbeing CIC.
Mike will be facilitating the session: Before the First Step: What Makes Nature Feel Possible.
Maggy Blagrove (she/her)
Maggy is the Founder of Open Minds Active CIC, a Bristol-based social impact organisation dedicated to promoting positive mental and physical wellbeing through wild swimming and outdoor activities.
She has over 20 years’ experience using sport to drive social change in communities nationally and internationally. Her work focuses on improving access to physical activity for women and girls, highlighting the wider opportunities and benefits it brings. Maggy has designed and delivered programmes across the UK, the Middle East, Europe, and Southern Africa. She holds a Masters in International Development and is an experienced facilitator, qualified swim teacher, open water coach, lifeguard, and netball coach
Maggy will be facilitating the session: Connections That Count: finding partnerships that truly fit.
Ismail Kholwadia
Over the past decade, Ismail has been working across a wide range of roles within the charity and social change sector, from grassroots community engagement to strategic leadership. One of the experiences that has given him the most nuanced understanding of the sector is working for a funder. It offered a rare, holistic perspective on what funding truly represents beyond financial resource.
Alongside this, they’ve supported multiple organisations with both small and large-scale funding applications, whether to trusts and foundations or public sector commissioners. This dual experience, understanding organisational realities and navigating funder expectations, allows him to bring a balanced, rounded approach to supporting organisations.
Ismail will be facilitating the session: From Grants to Growth: Practical Insights into Funding and Funders.
Monique Powell (she/her)
Monique is the founder of Trekkers UK and a qualified, accredited Psychotherapist with over 13 years of experience in mental health. She is passionate about the transformative power of nature and its role in nurturing mental, physical, and social wellbeing for the global majority.
Her work brings together nature connection and culturally sensitive therapeutic approaches, creating inclusive, accessible spaces that honour diverse identities, lived experiences, and cultural backgrounds.
Monique will be facilitating a Grounding and Intention Setting session.
Website | Instagram | Instagram | LinkedIn | Linkedin
Elle Simms (she/her)
Elle is a lead volunteer at Bird Outdoors, a women's led outdoor community for women and non-binary folk to learn, build confidence, and explore outdoor activities. she is an (injured) runner, climber and owner of many bikes that she looks at more than she rides.
Elle is also an educator in Higher Education working in an experiential learning setting to support students to build confidence & community while at university. She is a values led facilitator and considers deeply the spaces of learning that she holds with people, to build outcomes that support connection, belonging, and personal application.
Elle will be facilitating the session: Practising What We Stand For: Leading With Your Values
Website | Instagram | Instagram | LinkedIn | Linkedin | Facebook
Stu Skinner MBE (he/him)
Stu is an expedition leader, mental health first aid instructor, and founder of Head Outside and the Head Outside Awards. He was awarded an MBE for services to mental health through outdoor leadership, training, and community engagement. Stu pioneered the integration of Mental Health First Aid within the outdoor and expedition industry, developing training, resources, and risk tools to better support leaders and participants.
His work spans expedition leadership, consultancy, and community programme design, grounded in both professional expertise and lived experience. He works with organisations to create practical, inclusive approaches to psychological safety, leadership, and meaningful human connection in the outdoors.
Stu will be facilitating the session: Supporting participants: knowing when and how to step in.
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
Marie Uri (she/her)
Marie is a director at United We Climb (UWC), working alongside Rachel Briggs, the founder of UWC, and Yasmin Lazarus.
Her work at UWC focus on community engagement, supporting various groups within and outside the organisation to diversify the climbing field.
Although all her projects are unpaid and voluntary, they are fuelled by her deep passion for climbing and her unwavering commitment to fostering inclusivity.
Marie will be facilitating the session: You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup: Caring for Ourselves While Caring for Others.
Stu Watson (they/them)
Stu is the founder of Ethical Activities CIC and NeuDICE CIC. Ethical Activities offers a range of outdoor adventure activities in Plymouth and NeuDICE helps people build their neurodivergent support networks.
Alongside this Stu researches “neuroqueering entrepreneurship” developing inclusive, practice-based understandings of enterprise, education, and social change.
Stu will be facilitating the session: Outdoor Practice Circle: Reflect, Share, Grow.
Website | Website | Instagram | Instagram | LinkedIn | LinkedIn | LinkedIn | Facebook | Facebook
Nadia Weigh (she/her)
Nadia has spent over 15 years working in the social impact space through her day job in international development and volunteer work alongside that. Much of her work has been on donor-funded programmes, which means thinking carefully about measuring our impact and demonstrating it in a meaningful way to our funders and other stakeholders.
Alongside this, she runs Adventure Queens, a not-for-profit that aims to get more women active outdoors, where she brings those same principles into a more community-led setting. Nadia has shared “I’m really delighted to be delivering this session and sharing some of what I’ve learned across both roles!”
Nadia will be facilitating the session: Not Just Numbers: Making Impact Measurement Meaningful.
Website | Instagram | Instagram | LinkedIn | LinkedIn | Facebook
Leanne Wharton (she/her)
Leanne is the Founding Director of Soul Trail Wellbeing, therapist and nature lover .
Soul Trail is a black led nature based non profit providing hikes, nature programmes & workshops to people lacking access to outdoors. STW mission is to promote health equity and reduce race inequity.
Leanne is facilitating the Regional Networking: South & West through “Netwalking”.
Kylie Windle (she/her)
Kylie is a qualified counsellor (MBACP), accredited sound bath practitioner, and director, therapeutic lead and is a walking leader for Trek Therapy cic. She is a trauma informed therapist with a background supporting those who are experiencing gambling addiction as well as working with their loved ones to build empowerment and self advocacy.
She offers 1-2-1 confidential support to Trek Therapy clients during the 'Self Care Sunday' walks in addition to delivering grounding, self care and wellness tips/tools to the wider group with the intention to support their overall wellbeing.
Kylie will be sharing a Guided Meditation and Sound Bath.
Website | Instagram | Instagram | LinkedIn | | Facebook | Facebook
Our 2026 Content Team
Alongside our incredible facilitators we also have some incredible creatives joining us to capture content at the event.
Emily Ankers (she/her)
Emily is a Doctoral Student and the Director of The Beta Club.
Emily's research on women's and gender diverse people's experiences of climbing directly influences the format of The Beta Club, which aims to offer opportunities to build confidence and trust on and off the wall.
Emily is joining us as a Community Writer helping us to share learnings, insights and stories from the event.
Les Latchman (he/him)
Les is a Jamaican Indian photographer, filmmaker and writer, on a mission to use the power of storytelling as a force for good. Based in the UK, but shooting worldwide, his work has taken him on unconventional adventures, from exploring Earth’s happiest countries to visual storytelling assignments in Antarctica.
Rooted in a love for purposeful adventure, he is passionate about the outdoors, responsible travel, and championing greater representation in these spaces. Some examples of clients are the RSPB, Intrepid Travel, Patagonia and the Zanzibar Tourism Board.
Les is joining us to capture the event on video and make our 2026 event film.
Isabella McDonnell (she/her)
Isabella is a lawyer-in-training, forest bathing facilitator and writer.
As the founder and host of Xeno, she has conversations with people from all walks of life about their stories of home, identity and belonging.
Isabella founded Roots of Belonging, which hosts outdoor events for mixed, dual heritage, and multicultural POCs to deepen their sense of belonging in the UK outdoors. She’s a recent graduate of the Opening Up The Outdoors changemakers programme and a member of the All the Elements Network.
Isabella is joining us as a Community Writer helping us to share learnings, insights and stories from the event.
Celie Nigoumi (she/her)
Celie is an Artist & Facilitator creating impactful Film & Photography with purposeful founders, creatives, brands and organisations.
With a documentary-led approach to visual storytelling, Celie amplifies underrepresented voices and elevates the stories that matter in both commissioned and personal work.
Celie’s ethos is grounded in celebration, connection and kindness and she practices small but mighty acts of resistance by finding joy in the everyday, adopting radical authenticity and questioning the status quo. Always finding inspiration in nature, Celie leads Mindful Photowalks, inviting creatives to slow down, practice the art of observation and enjoy offline connection with like-minded folk.
Celie is joining us to capture photos of the event.
Steph Wetherell (she/her)
Steph is a freelance writer focusing on the outdoors, environment and farming with a passion for sharing stories and drawing out learning from peoples' experiences.
She is also the co-founder of Every Body Outdoors, an organisation working for plus size inclusivity in the outdoors, so has experience of the joys and challenges of running a not for profit organisation.
Steph is joining us as a Community Writer helping us to share learnings, insights and stories from the event.
Our 2026 Event Team
Soraya Abdel-Hadi (she/her)
Soraya Abdel-Hadi is an award-winning writer, artist, Blue Health Coach, sustainability professional and founder of All The Elements CIC.
She has worked in the outdoor sector for most of her career in roles including equestrian journalism, climbing instruction and expedition planning.
All The Elements is centred on the community leaders creating positive change on representation and access across all diversity areas, from ethnicity and race, to limited financial means, age, gender identity and sexuality, and more.
Gina McCabe (she/her)
Gina McCabe is founder of Place Innovation providing research, project management, evaluation, and training services to support more equitable access to nature and the outdoors. Her career has spanned the public, private, charitable and education sector in the UK and internationally – including an early stint in the corporate world of project management, as a fully qualified outdoor instructor, and as director of a community based youth and outdoor activity service.
Gina is the lead for all things Outdoor Citizens on behalf of YHA, the Adventure Director for a USA summer camp, a volunteer coach for local sea kayaking and mountain biking clubs, should get points for effort for trying to learn to swim and run better, and is Mum of 2 teens.
Frankie Dewar (She/They)
Frankie is a communications professional with a focus on social media and a background in adventure sports. Particularly supporting those working for change to find their voice and have their content heard. Supporting All The Elements as Communications Director since 2023.
They are also completing a master’s in Interdisciplinary Problems and Methods (MASc), exploring threads of place, belonging and human-nature separatism through the lens of weeds.
Joss McAuley (she/her)
Joss is co-founder and director of Peace of Green CIC (PoG) . Based in Leicester, PoG provides therapeutic and creative time in nature, focussing on working with groups of people who often find accessing natural spaces more difficult due to finance, age, ability, gender or ethnicity.
Joss's work stems from the belief that we are nature, and so we all have a right to experience the joy and healing that connecting with natural spaces can so generously offer us. Joss is a passionate activist, a forager and apprentice of food growing and plant medicine. She is mum to two grown up sons and two cats.
Frit Tam (he/him)
Frit Tam is a transgender, British Chinese, award-winning documentary filmmaker, photographer, speaker, creative and woodworker.
As an adventure documentary filmmaker, his sole mission is to share stories from underrepresented communities in the outdoors and adventure spheres. He is also co-director of Sheffield Adventure Film Festival and aims to lead the way in making adventure film festivals more accessible for all.
As wellbeing support, he is a calm, non-judgemental listener, and will let you lead the way in finding a solution that will most benefit you. And finally, he will rarely say no to a portion of chips.
Frit is joining us at The Outdoor Connection as wellbeing support. Whether you need someone to talk to, have a concern about the event or need help connecting to another attendee - please reach out to Frit and he’ll be there to help or listen.
If you’re attending the event you can find further information about all the sessions and attendees in the Event Guide that has been emailed to you - If you’ve not received it please drop an email to hello@alltheelements.co
Information about The Outdoor Connection 2022, 2024 and 2025 can be found here.
