Making the move from the Peak District to North Uist nine years ago, Emily Durie has been popping up as nomadic playgroup Wee Wildlings in locations from Eriskay to Berneray, and has now found her basecamp, The Wee Woodland, Lochmaddy.

Community and Collaboration

“After doing nomadic sessions for so long, I really wanted to be based on one site. I wanted to help the children and parents build a relationship with their site, and see the seasonal changes of it.”

Children already skilled at identifying shells from so much time on the beaches are now learning how to identify trees like ash and pine and mushrooms like puffballs and jelly ear, finding new ways to engage in the landscape around them.

“It’s been amazing having the children coming back week after week, really making a connection with the land.” 

A common puffball mushroom is found in woodlands and grasslands, it is often in clusters and when it is mature a small hole appears in the top out of which it releases thousands of spores. If the mushroom is touched then it looks like it is smoking as the spores are released.

Jelly Ear mushrooms look exactly like they sound, they are red/brown or purplish jelly looking fungi which start off small but can grow to look like big human ears. They are found on dead or dying branches and favour shady, damp spots. They also grow in clusters.

Go fast go alone, go far go together

As founder and sole driver of Otter Mountain, Emily has been able to get her ideas off the ground and trial things quickly, but working solo does take its toll. The preparation time, constant weather watching ahead of sessions and physical labour of carrying and setting up a 5m bell tent (with her youngest toddler in tow – “He loved it, but it was hard for me when sleep deprived!”). She has learnt that self care matters – long walks with the dog listening to audiobooks, swimming in the loch, weekly video chats with best friends – and that community isn’t just something she builds in the woods, but something she relies on too.

“Families have been so kind, supportive, and understanding that this is just me at the moment, no staff, doing this alongside being a mum and working two other jobs. People have been so enthusiastic about it and I couldn’t do it without them.”

Emily finds support through Outdoor & Woodland Learning Scotland (OWL Scotland), a nationwide outdoor education network providing training and networking opportunities. She also sits on the Uist and Barra Childcare Forum, a cross-sector group bringing together local stakeholders to share knowledge, address challenges, and improve childcare services across the islands.

“We have done a lot of work of sharing our island stories with national agencies as well as the Scottish Government. We hope to be solutions-based and are mostly a team of enthusiastic providers who want what’s best for the families and children throughout our islands.” 

Successfully having lobbied for change with Care Inspectorate regulations, Emily liaises regularly with members of Scottish Government to ensure that any changes in reform reflect the challenges faced by rural and island communities. 

“It’s important to try and not work in isolation. If we want to encourage people to work and live and stay on the islands, then we need to be welcoming and we need to be inclusive.”

Emily is working alongside Sgoil Lionacleit’s Developing the Young Workforce to offer opportunities for young people to learn about outdoor education through volunteering and work placements at the woods, nurturing future educators within the community and throughout the wider Outer Hebrides. 

“The hope is that some of those young people will want to come and work at the woodland and maybe take it on in the future, or help it grow.”

Thanks to funding from Loch Duart fish farm, groups of school pupils are able to attend the woodland once a month for a whole year, a pilot for what Emily describes as her dream: outdoor learning to be embedded in every child’s education. Alongside her role as Learning Support Lead at Sgoil Uibhist a’Tuath, Emily is perfectly positioned to keep that dream moving forward.

“The last few years have been amazing – I’m over the moon to have even reached this stage. Any time to myself has gone towards building this, but I get genuine joy when I’ve been thinking about something for months and then deliver a session to a woodland full of smiling, happy children. I look after myself by finding the positives and noticing the little things. And I’ve had to remind myself how proud I am – it has felt like a lot – but I really, really am.”

Future Plans

Now registered with the care inspectorate and poised to take on staff, Emily is planning after-school clubs and holiday camps in the summer. 

“I have a licence for 10 primary aged children after school and 24 for a holiday camp. If children can get to the woodland, after school, cook their snack over the fire and then head home, what’s not to love!”

With support from the Nature Restoration Fund, Emily awaits planning permission to build an off-grid woodland classroom, designed by 7:22 Systems, providing shelter, space and opportunity for the community to continue to grow outdoors.