I qualified as Blue Badge Tourist Guides in London in 2018..
When I was growing up, I always had both of good worlds, a big city and the countryside . I always loved the city but at the same time we’ve all always been drawn to nature. I grew up going camping , and used to go kayaking with my dad
I did my Hill Moorland Leader course just before the pandemic. I recall coming back from the Peak District on a train that was almost completely empty.
When the pandemic hit everything fell apart. All the assignments were cancelled, and we couldn’t guide. When we were allowed outdoors again an idea started to take shape. As I was also outdoor first aid qualified and insured for lowland walks, so I started to prepare walks outdoors. I pre-walked the walks and researched routes. It started with a London tea walk then ventured further into the countryside.
The History Hikers group was founded. And I started to offer small group outdoor activities, taking the train from London and always making sure that social distancing could be applied . Our hikes always involved a combination of nature and historic sites.
When lockdown ended the History Hikers group continued and started to include internal visits to sites, or small churches along our hikes always donating and encouraging donations. I had no idea at this stage this was technically sustainable tourism. It just felt right.
Participants were always told about the country-side code.
Then the opportunity came to train as a North Downs Way Ambassador. The training covered not only low land navigation but also the flora and fauna of the area. It made a huge difference and I gradually started to be more conscious about sustainability.
In May 2023 II qualified as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide in Wales. Wales was love at first sight. When certificates were presented to by Dafydd Wigley, I was moved by his inspirational speech, emphasising the importance of sustainable tourism.
In October 2023 I attended a short course called SMART Tourism and Responsible Travel by Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham Business School and in January 2024 gained the qualification in Sustainable Tourism by GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) and signed up as a member. Jill has completed a continues development course on sustainability offered by the Association of Professional Tourist Guides and Federation of European Tourist Guides Association.
I started to think about how to apply sustainability to our tours in a big city such as London, we changed the way the tours were delivered, updated the website and I made changes at home too, monitoring water and energy usage, changing the products she used to clean her house and swapping to Bower Collective eco-products.
At the end of January 2024, we gained the Silver Green Tourism Award.
At the end of November 2024, during storm Bert I successfully passed my Hill and Moorland leader Assessment.
As far as we are aware we are the first Blue Badge Tourist Guides to gain a Green Tourism award and I am the first Blue Badge Guide to qualify in Sustainability in London and Wales.
I am preparing for the Hill and Moorland Leader Assessment, attend workshops on geology, and glaciation and tackling environmental challenges for a sustainable future. We are starting our tours Cardiff by Rail , offering nature walks combined with history and we all continuously seek to learn more and improve our tours and make them more sustainable.