Development tutor (Outdoors)

John Martin | Development Tutor, Fairbridge Glasgow

Outdoor ‘DTs’ are the Fairbridge frontline - they design, develop and deliver courses to young people as outlined in personal development plans.

Fairbridge runs a huge variety of outdoors courses including rock climbing, abseiling and caving. Most Outdoor DTs are qualified instructors.

No day is ever the same for our Outdoor DTs.

What’s your name and how long have you been working at Fairbridge?

I’m John Martin, I’m Development Tutor (Level 5) at the Glasgow team. I’ve been here for 6 and half years.

What does a Development Tutor do?

I am responsible for running the outdoor programmes and line managing the other development tutors. I ensure the team has everything it needs for the delivery of courses and am responsible for purchasing all equipment and its upkeep.

What do you like about the job?

The best thing about my role has to be working with young people and watching them develop. Each young person is different and has there own particular set of issues. That’s what makes it so fascinating.

I love the outdoors, so Fairbridge suits me down to the ground – we do a wide range of courses such as caving, abseiling and night walking. It’s also Monday – Friday unlike other outdoor organisations, which is great? as you get the weekends to yourself.

What did you do on your Access?

My first access course was at Glen Kinn in Dunoon, and it was pretty memorable, I got a fire extinguisher thrown at me by a young person. Nothing too serious, we talked it through and sorted it out. I spent most of the course just watching the staff work with the young people and learning the ropes.

Best moment at Fairbridge?

My funniest experience at Fairbridge was getting a group of young people to dress up like ghosts to go and scare another group of young people from Fairbridge who were staying in a bunkhouse in the next valley.

My best moment was jumping over an entire group of young people whist power kiting.

What is the best thing about working with young people?

Working with Young people is amazing, you have to be on your toes the whole time though and ready to adapt to any circumstance.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking of working for Fairbridge?

I would advise anyone thinking about working for Fairbridge to just pop into the centre and meet the staff but most importantly meet the young people we work with.