Open Gates Outdoors works with businesses in the outdoors to...
provide local guided walks or mountain experiences anywhere in the UK to improve moral of your teams or support your charity fundraising activities,
improve the teamwork and leadership skills in your teams,
provide life coaching to employees unsatisfied or uncertain in their career,
contribute greater social value, and
promote Sheffield as a place to work and to do business,
As well as improving the wellbeing of your teams, these activities will enhance their leadership effectiveness as well as their cohesiveness, communication, trust, and problem-solving skills. It is established that each of these factors positively affects staff turnover, absence, productivity and quality.
In September 2024 Open Gates Outdoors successfully delivered a three day programme of outdoor activities to new apprentices of Gripple UK & Ireland. The feedback received from the attendees as part of the evaluation process was extremely positive and provided evidence of tangible impact. Funds from this work supported a walk for a mental health support group run by Voluntary Action Rotherham in January 2025.
Open Gates Outdoors appreciates that one size does not fit all and we will therefore work closely with you in the planning and delivery of our activities to ensure that they have maximum impact on your teams.
This might involve a combination of guided walking, mountain experiences, strategic games, forest school activities and garden landscaping all led by our qualified team.
Reflection is crucial to the effectiveness of activities with corporate teams and Open Gates Outdoors will work with your teams after the activities to consolidate professional development.
What our partners say...
"We had an incredible three days with Open Gates Outdoors, engaging in a range of activities including pond building, mapping, and calculating our hikes, strategy games, and learning valuable life skills in the forest school. It was fantastic to see our new apprentices grow closer as they tackled these challenges together. This experience was both challenging and rewarding, which made it a terrific team building opportunity.
I want to say a huge thank you to George from Open Gates Outdoors for helping us explore nature, and being our guide and teacher..”
Learning & Development Coordinator, Gripple UK and Ireland
"What an incredible adventure with Open Gates Outdoors! Over three days I was truly pushed out of my comfort zone and challenged with various activities. The core skills I developed during this programme will be invaluable throughout my time at Gripple. It was truly a rewarding and impactful experience. A huge thank you to George for being an incredibly supportive and inspiring leader.”
Graduate Trainee on Commercial Pathway at Gripple UK and Ireland.
"From our first meeting with George, it was evident that Grow and Open Gates shared a synergy and common values, which strengthened our desire to collaborate and support each other’s missions. We deeply appreciated the valuable introduction to Gripple and the chance to work with Open Gates on a three-day programme as part of Gripple’s apprenticeship induction. The organisation of the programme by Open Gates was outstanding, marked by clear communication and considered planning. George’s energy and professionalism greatly enhanced the experience for both us and the Gripple participants. We look forward to future collaborations with Open Gates.”
Lesley Ellerby, Senior Marketing & Fundraising Manager, Grow
Improve teamwork and leadership skills.
Open Gates Outdoors’ qualified and experienced practitioners will work with our business partners to develop and deliver a programme of outdoor activities that develops skills in their leaders and teams.
We can provide
strategic team games led by a practitioner and publisher with over 40 years experience working in many different countries and different sizes of business, and/or
activities based on forest school principles such as foraging, shelter building, or wild cooking led by a qualified Forest School practitioner,
mountain leadership and guided walks anywhere in the UK that include teamwork and leadership activities such as route planning, navigation and team leadership
Improve wellbeing and morale
Open Gates Outdoors can lead guided wellbeing walks with a focus on local history, geology and flora and fauna. We are qualified to lead walks in all mountainous areas of the UK.
Our qualified guides can lead walks either on routes designed to meet your needs or around established challenging long distance paths such as the Edale Skyline and the Derwent Watershed including sponsored challenges your teams are doing for charity. We can also lead groups anywhere in the Lake District, Snowdonia or Scotland in summer conditions.
Walking improves mental and physical health and develops the sense of place. This is vital at a time when, as a legacy of the Covid 19 pandemic, teams are often continuing to work at home or on a hybrid model and to meet virtually rather than in person. All walks will be lead by outdoor leaders with appropriate qualifications.
Life coaching
Open Gates Outdoors is qualified by the Institute of Leaders and Managers (ILM) to deliver life coaching specifically in an organisational context. We are a registered member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Commission (“EMCC”) and subscribe to its professional code of conduct.
Open Gates Outdoors can work with your teams and individual employees to support them to identify appropriate personal or professional targets and we will further supporting them to identify actions which will support the achievement of those targets.
The outdoors is the perfect location for these conversations because it is neutral and encourages creative thinking.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Value
Open Gates Outdoors is committed to making a contribution from all payments made by business partners towards the cost of it providing its services to third sector partners for free. Open Gates Outdoors' business partners will have the opportunity to select the third sector partner to sponsor, or we can work with our business partners to identify an appropriate community partner for them to sponsor.
We work with business partners to involve their teams in working with third sector groups to directly improve or maintain outdoor spaces in their community for example by litter picking, tree planting or maintenance of a local environment.
Promote Sheffield as a place to work and do business
Open Gates Outdoors can work with business partners to offer activities which promote Sheffield as a place to work or to do business to potential customers, contractors or employees visiting Sheffield. Sheffield is “the outdoor city” and is famously known to have a “beautiful frame”. Accessibility to the countryside and wilderness is a unique selling point of our city. Sheffield also has a rich urban history and manufacturing heritage. Open Gates Outdoors has a unique understanding of Sheffield’s rural and urban character. We can help you ensure that people your business wants to engage with see Sheffield in its best light.
Open Gates Outdoors’ Prices for Business Partners
Open Gates Outdoors is a not for profit company registered at Companies House as a Community Interest Company. From every contract with business partners we will use funds to benefit the community by providing outdoor services to third sector partners for free (which our business partners will effectively sponsor) and thereby widen participation in the outdoors.
Open Gates Outdoors’ prices for business activities are negotiated on a case by case basis based on the nature of your requirements, the number of activities booked and the size of your group. Please contact Open Gates Outdoors to discuss an appropriate price for your activities.