Coleg Glan Hafren offers Bushcraft on Public Services courses

Coleg Glan Hafren’s Uniformed Public Services course is one of the first in Wales to offer Bushcraft skills through a qualified lecturer. The First and National Diploma courses in Uniformed Public Services prepare students to enter the armed forces, police or fire service. The course covers units on public service skills and fitness, plus law and public services at the First Diploma level, while the National Diploma covers an advanced set of hot topics including Responding to Emergency Service Incidents, Understanding the Criminal Justice System and Police Powers and Command and Control in the Uniformed Services. Earlier this year, Darren Foote, a lecturer at the college and qualified Mountain Leader, introduced Bushcraft training to the course to help the students gain vital survival skills. Coleg Glan Hafren is one of the first colleges in Wales to offer the Bushcraft training through a fully qualified lecturer. Bushcraft skills taught include: • shelter-building; • lighting fires (without using matches or lighters!); • cooking food outdoors; • how to use bushcraft tools in a safe manner; • health and hygiene outdoors; • the Country Code; • navigation skills (both by compass and using the stars); • planning and preparing for expeditions; • mountain first aid. Students on the Uniformed Public Services courses are also fortunate that the staff have developed an indoor .22 air rifle target range. This facility gives students the opportunity to develop their skills to competition standard and has allowed staff to outline firearms legislation in an exciting but safe and well-controlled environment. Lecturers can also highlight current issues relating to gun crime and responsible firearms use. Lecturing staff are now planning to develop more climbing and outdoor expeditions where the skills the students learn can be put into practice, to help enrich their experience at the college. For more information on Coleg Glan Hafren’s courses visit www.glan-hafren.ac.uk or call the college’s advice shop on 02920 250400.