Photo: Ollie Grove

Richard Skrein

Rich can be found in the woods of Europe and England and is an urban woodsman, outdoor professional, storyteller, Forest School teacher trainer, and author with a profound and enduring passion for the natural world. He works as a facilitator, trainer and consultant to create long-term opportunities for learning, growth and healing in the outdoors.

Rich is the author of three books published by Pavilion HarperCollins - Fifity Things to Do in the Wild, Fifty Things to Do with a Stick, and Fifty Things to Do in the Snow - practical, reflective guides rooted in a belief that direct, unmediated experience of the natural world is one of the most important things we can offer children and adults alike. His forthcoming book, Fire: Why We Are Drawn to the Flame, is due for publication in 2026 and represents a deeper, more expansive project - part natural history, part cultural inquiry, part lyrical meditation. It asks why Fire has occupied the heart of human life since our earliest beginnings, and through story, essay and experience explores what fire means to us today.

Rich is passionate about sharing the stories of our ancestors and can be found on the first Thursday of every month holding a free community storytelling fire circle in London. He also loves to create ephemeral art with natural materials and offers workshops with artist James Brunt in London.

Rich also works with men. He holds space for men to slow down, step outside, and reconnect - with themselves, with each other, and with the living world around them. Drawing on his experience as a storyteller and outdoor facilitator, he creates containers in which men can explore what it means to be present, purposeful and in relationship - with the natural world as both setting and teacher. This work sits at the intersection of the therapeutic and the elemental.

Rich is a widely respected and experienced Forest School Trainer, and is one of only a handful of Forest School Association Endorsed Trainers. He has trained hundreds of Forest School Leaders and it is one of his favourite things to do. He worked for many years in the classroom as a primary school teacher before swapping four walls for the magic of natural environments. Rich has a profound understanding of the theoretical and pedagogical underpinnings of Forest School, and the ways in which it can complement and work alongside mainstream education, as well as training in the therapeutic possibilities of time spent in the wild and in community.

Rich is proud to be a part of The Garden Classroom, a London-based charity that connects urban children and families with nature.

He is particularly passionate about making green spaces accessible to communities that are currently less welcomed or represented in the outdoors. He knows that if we understand ourselves as part of the natural world and cultivate a reciprocal relationship with the other-than-human, we can affect profound change for ourselves and the planet. He believes deeply in the power of the outdoors to educate, nurture, inspire and heal.

Get in touch with Rich here.