A STUDENT turned staff member at Buxton & Leek College has become a published author after carving a career from his passion for canoeing.
Twenty-eight-year-old Adam Robson, from Handforth in Cheshire, began his paddling career as a scout and his love of the great outdoors led him to the BTEC course in Adventure Sport and Outdoor Leadership at the College’s Buxton Campus. Two years on, he is working as Enrichment Co-Ordinator at the College’s Leek Campus and sharing his passion with students from all walks of life.
This February, after paddling 50 different waterways including rivers, lakes, canals and estuaries, Adam celebrates the publication of his first guidebook: Welsh Canoe Classics. The £15.99 paperback, which he produced with fellow enthusiasts Eddie Palmer and Nigel Wilford, goes on sale this week and features some of the finest tours of Wales’ waterways.
Among the first to use the guidebook will be a group of Health and Social Care students from Buxton & Leek College who will be paddling the very route illustrated on the book’s front cover when Adam leads them on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition in Llangollen this June. He said: “I’m really pleased that this group of students will be using my guidebook to help them plan the expedition. And I’m even more pleased to be working doing something I love as much as canoeing.
“My qualification from Buxton & Leek College took me to the South of France where I worked as an outdoor sport instructor leading school and college groups. Now I’m working closer to home but still loving the fact that my working day involves activities that other people only get to do on holiday.
“I lead two Duke of Edinburgh groups in College each week and I love sharing my passion for canoeing. We train on Tittesworth Reservoir and, although it’s something that I do every week, it’s great to see students try it for the first time.”
As Enrichment Coordinator at Buxton & Leek College, Adam gets students involved in all types of activities from sports including climbing, archery and hill walking to learning new skills to boost their employability such as presentation skills and volunteering for community-based activities.
His canoeist and kayaker’s guide is available now on Amazon.