{"id":28,"date":"2019-11-10T09:25:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T09:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/18.171.192.198\/blog\/?page_id=28"},"modified":"2025-06-07T12:41:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T11:41:27","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/?page_id=28","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-287\" style=\"width:415px;height:310px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2-267x200.jpg 267w, https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_5348-2.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">About WildSmiths<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>WildSmiths are husband and wife team Greg and Sarah Smith, living on the Hebridean island of Coll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our purpose is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To inspire, enthuse and educate visitors to the\nScottish island of Coll about its outstanding wildlife, natural beauty and archaeology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To develop and share with visitors to the isle, our expertise and passion for the amazing range of natural and cultural wonders on Coll.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three elements to the services we offer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A daily guided wildlife walk for small groups, lasting around two hours<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A bespoke half-day or full-day guiding service\nfor individuals or small groups with a particular interest or ambition <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One-off events (including moth trapping sessions, wildlife talks, dawn-chorus walks etc) <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about the services we offer, see <a href=\"http:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/?page_id=246\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">About Us<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Greg has degrees in philosophy, linguistics and natural sciences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He has had a 35-year career in wildlife conservation. Until November 2019, he was a senior leader in Natural England, the Government\u2019s statutory conservation advisers in England responsible for the protection, regulation and management of the natural environment and its public access\/enjoyment.  For 30 years he was a full member of conservation&#8217;s professional body, the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah is a qualified primary school teacher, with a degree in archaeology and professional experience as an archaeologist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She has a Masters degree in contemporary art and is an artist who works with natural materials, inspired by natural places and cultural artefacts\/heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before moving to Coll, they also ran a voluntary not-for-profit organisation on the Essex coast inspiring and enthusing local communities to value and celebrate the wildlife on their doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They never go anywhere without Reggie the Renault, their trusty campervan. Look out for his black livery with pink flowers when you&#8217;re on the island!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Other Useful Information<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We both hold clean certificated registrations with Essex County Council&#8217;s enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (eDBS) (which means we are able to demonstrate that we have no criminal record including spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hold public liability insurance with Covea Insurance (Policy no: <em>BAC00000031838<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are both trained and certificated outdoor activity first aiders (Certificate nos:<em> 2308998\/2309004 03\/12\/2019 &#8211; <\/em>refreshed in January 2023)<em>.<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About WildSmiths WildSmiths are husband and wife team Greg and Sarah Smith, living on the Hebridean island of Coll. Our purpose is: There are three elements to the services we &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1915,"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/28\/revisions\/1915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildsmiths.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}