ABOUT CHRIS
I spent my childhood playing in the fields near my house.
I started going to the Lake District from the age of 8, and never stopped, and now it feels like my second home.
I went straight from education into a job in investment banking (Mergers and Acquisitions for those who care). During that time, I tended to my outdoorsy urges by going on as many hiking and mountaineering trips as I could, including a full year away climbing all over the world.
When I had kids, the mountains were too far away, so I switched to going to the woods loads. I did a week-long bushcraft course in 2009, and then tried to pretend that Clapham Common was the Great North Woods.
In 2011 I realised it just wasn’t enough, and I was slowly starting to go bonkers indoors all day, so I figured I’d resign with no plan, and see what happened, and I fell down an adventure hole… which now feels like my third home.
And so it began…
Since then I have been designing and delivering juicy outdoor experiences for a wide range of people, who are interested in seeing what happens when you unleash yourself into the vibrant, dynamic environment of nature. On that road I have become a Mountain Leader (licensed by the Adventurous Activities Licensing Authority / AALA), and archery instructor, and have successfully run my own outdoor events, programmes and expeditions for over 10 years.
Why I run Feral Fathers events
I left investment banking in 2011 because I wanted to be present for my daughter and son’s childhood – physically there (which was difficult in itself) but also in the other important ways. I figured I’d find some other way to make the ‘providing’ bit work.
What I discovered in the years that followed is that fatherhood becomes truly magnificent when the conditions allow real connection to happen – the kind that doesn’t fit into structured activities or ‘scheduled quality time’.
Feral Fathers came from watching what actually works: unstructured time in wild places, playful and meaningful challenge, the freedom to muck about without agenda. These weekends strip away the noise – no phones, no pressure, no performance – and create space for fathers and children to simply be together in ways that modern life rarely allows.
I’ve seen it happen dozens of times now: a dad and his kid building a shelter together, sitting by a fire they made themselves, sleeping under the stars. Something shifts. The relationship deepens. Both of them leave different.
Add in the factor of having a bunch of other dads doing the same thing, and you suddenly have connection at a ‘tribal’ level: another feeling that often does not get a chance to manifest.
Fathers are vital to a child’s development. And fatherhood is one of the most profound sources of meaning available to a man. But there are so many obstacles to experiencing it properly – to step into it fully, away from all the competing demands.
That’s what these weekends offer: permission and space to be the father you want to be.
What people say about me
From people who have regularly been on my events, and put their kids in my care for extended periods: