Gold Residential
Gold Residential: Wild Woodland
Our Gold Duke of Edinburgh Residential: Wild Woods Edition is a five-day off-grid adventure designed to build independence, confidence, and real-world skills.
Living in our gorgeous woodland camps, participants cook over fire, take on team challenges, and grow through immersive outdoor learning — all while fulfilling their DofE residential requirements.
Gold Residential: Wild Island
Wild Island is a remote, adventure like no other — set on one a gorgeous Scotland’s island
With challenges to face, new skills to learn, and real responsibilities to take on, you'll work as a team, cook your own meals, and discover what you’re really capable of.
Gold Residential: Wild Woodlands
The Wild Woods Gold Residential is a five-day immersive adventure for young people looking to complete the residential section of their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award — and experience something far beyond the ordinary.
Set in remote woodland locations, this off-grid programme challenges participants to live simply and intentionally in nature. Sleeping in canvas bell tents, cooking their own meals over open fire, and learning to thrive without modern distractions, they step into a world of self-reliance, responsibility, and connection.
Each day brings new challenges and opportunities to grow — from survival skills and tool use to navigation, wild first aid, and nature crafts. Team tasks are woven through the experience to foster leadership, communication, and cooperation, while individual reflection time encourages self-awareness and personal development.
Participants also engage with nature through conservation projects, sustainability-focused activities, and elements of citizen science, helping them to develop a deeper understanding of the natural world and their place within it.
Throughout the week, they’ll build confidence, independence, and resilience by stepping out of their comfort zones and taking ownership of real challenges.
They’ll gain practical skills with lifelong value, strengthen teamwork and problem-solving abilities, and create meaningful connections with each other and the environment around them.
Led by experienced outdoor instructors, this residential prioritises safety, inclusion, and personal growth — all while delivering a fun, empowering, and unforgettable experience in the wild.
The Wild Woods programme is fully DofE Gold Residential compliant and is ideal for participants aged 16 and over.
Length
5 days. 4nights
Location
Scottish Borders Woodlands
Accommodation
Gorgeous single bell tents, hammock options
Programme
The Wild Woods Camp is a fully immersive woodland residential designed to meet the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award residential criteria, combining adventure, skill-building, and shared purpose.
Set in a woodland environment, participants live together in tents or simple shelters, cook and eat communally, and take part in a wide range of bushcraft and outdoor activities.
From the outset, the focus is on teamwork, independence, and stepping outside comfort zones while forming new connections with people from different backgrounds.
Across the week, participants develop practical bushcraft and survival skills such as shelter building, fire lighting, wild cooking, navigation, wild first aid, water purification, and the safe use of tools.
Adventure and challenge are central, with activities including archery, tomahawks, tree climbing with harnesses, paddle boarding, gel blasters, and team challenge games. Alongside this, the programme embeds citizen science and conservation, with hands-on woodland management, water monitoring, wildlife tracking, and farm tasks that contribute to real environmental projects.
Evenings are spent around the fire with storytelling, reflection, and talent shows, creating a strong sense of community and shared achievement.
The Wild Woods Camp delivers a purposeful, memorable residential experience that builds confidence, resilience, environmental awareness, and leadership—fully aligned with the aims and spirit of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.
Transport
Collection available from Tweedbank Train station or Galashiels Bus station.
Please email timings and we can collect.
Get to us and those you'll be with
Prior to each course we will run an online meet and greet - time to ask questions and get to know the others on the course with you
Gold Residential: Wild Island
Wild Island is an unforgettable multi-day adventure set on one of Scotland’s most remote and beautiful island locations — the perfect setting for a transformative Gold Duke of Edinburgh residential or senior school expedition.
This off-grid experience challenges participants to live, cook, and explore in an untamed landscape shaped by sea, weather, and wilderness. With bell tents and hammocks nestled among coastal trees, and daily life centred around open-fire cooking and island living, young people step into an environment where independence, teamwork, and real-world learning come alive.
Participants may be dropped at a remote point and hike back to basecamp, navigating the terrain as a team and overcoming challenges along the way. They take on meaningful responsibilities — from preparing meals and managing their own camp, to reflecting on their role within the group and the environment they’re part of.
The programme is built around adventurous learning, blending leadership, self-awareness, environmental exploration, and personal challenge. Depending on age and experience, groups may be supported by an instructor or undertake aspects of the journey semi-independently, always with safety and wellbeing at the core.
By the time they reach the final night — marked with a celebratory meal and evening by the fire — participants have not only explored a wild island, but discovered new confidence, connection, and capability within themselves.
Length
5 days
Location
West coast Scottish Island - near Oban
Transport
Collection from train or bus station Oban
Meals
Programme
Accommodation
