Canoe Trail Watersports and Adventurous Activities

Canoe Trail Summary
Canoe Trail www.canoetrail.co.uk is an award winning family run business providing watersports and adventurous activities in Bedfordshire at Kempston Outdoor Centre and further afield. Our team of professional instructors is led by Richard Harpham who has completed over 14,000 miles of human powered adventures (www.richadventure.com). We have 4 operating venues:
• Kempston Outdoor Centre with showers, changing rooms, classroom, climbing walls and other facilities
• Bedford Embankment - licence held with Bedford Borough to use access and white water facilities
• Matchstick Wood - woodland location for bushcraft, nature activities and survival days and camps operated in partnership with the Forest of Marston Vale
• Orchard End Farm - 15 acre site with 3 acres of orchards and farm location with shire horses, walks and apple activities
Canoe Trail has a private woodland adjacent the River Great Ouse which was voted Top52 things to do in the world by Lonely Planet for canoe and wild camping. Canoe Trail also featured in Wanderlust, Outdoor Adventure Guide, Red Bull Magazine, Paddler and many others for its trips, course and activities. We have over 80 canoes, kayaks and stand up paddle boards and are only 45 minutes from London by train and close to other cities in central England.
Canoe Trail work with a wide range of schools and local youth charities providing structured courses and activity programmes for local young people. As part of these programmes our staff provide a wide range of activities including:
• Indoor climbing and bouldering
• Outdoor climbing wall
• High ropes course
• Bushcraft activities
• Team challenges
• White water paddling sessions (at DuckMill)
• Canoeing
• Raft building
• Stand up paddle boarding (SUP)
• Kayaking
• Urban coasteering
Qualifications and certificates linking to school curriculum
Canoe Trail are able to offer a wide range of outdoor qualifications and certificates for young people and participants as well as development of lifeskills and emotional well-being through our sister company Inspired Life CIC which was a London 2012 Inspire Mark project.
Instructor Qualifications
Our instructors are highly qualified in canoe, kayak and SUP holding canoe leader, kayak leader, advanced canoe leader, core coach and moderate water coaching and leading qualifications. Our staff also hold wider qualifications including:
• First aid trainers and all staff are first aid trained
• Coaching young people
• Mental health first aid
• PETTLS
• Team Teach - Positive handling Level 1
• Bushcraft IOL
• Mentoring of paddlesports
• Archery GB quals
• Safeguarding quals
• DBS checked
Company Accreditation
• Canoe Trail holds a wide range of accreditation and governance awards and licences including:
• Duke of Edinburgh Approved Activity Provider
• CCF (Combined Cadet Force) Approved Activity Provider
• AALA licence
• LOTC (learning Outside the Classroom) Licence
• Institute of Outdoor Learning (IOL) Member
Equally importantly is our passion for adventure and journeys whether running 30ft waterfalls in Norway, canoeing the Yukon River or sea kayaking 1000 mile journeys. Canoe Trail runs expeditions to Canada including our ever popular Yukon Canoe Expedition and Ontario Wilderness Retreat. Closer to home we run our best of Scotland Canoe Expedition based from a private hunting lodge in the Highlands with wild camping and canoeing on some of Britain's most iconic rivers and lochs.
Canoe are used to coaching novice paddlers to complete big journeys and adventures and can tailor our programmes for charity events, groups and individuals. We are also highly experienced at delivering adaptive sessions for SEND groups and vulnerable learners working with a wide range of disability charities.
As one of the leading paddling adventure companies we can also help with advice, kit and expedition skills including relevant First Aid training and qualifications, bushcraft skills as well as paddling qualifications.