About us
Rough Edges is owned and run by Jonathan Tompkins. We have a current AALA licence and insurance, copies of which are available upon request.
My original career was as a land surveyor on a land seismic crew working for an oil exploration company and after a decade of working abroad it was time for a change. On the advice of a friend I completed my SPA in summer 2004 and began a career in outdoor pursuits. Playing outdoors and converting this into a career was fantastic but it's the satisfaction and joy from introducing people to the outdoors or helping people develop that keeps the job exciting. My experience in helping groups and individuals enjoy the outdoors is wide ranging. From primary school groups to pensioners, from the enthusiastic to not quite so enthusiastic, from simple activities to team events. A constant part of my freelance work has been with Prince's Trust teams during their week two residential and I've worked with 100's of Prince's Trust teams since 2010.
I hold the following qualifications: Single Pitch Award, Mountain Leader (Summer) Award, Local Cave Leader Award (Level 1 and 2, Peak District and Yorkshire Dales), Cave Instructor Certificate training, British Cycling Mountain Bike Level 2, a current First Aid Certificate and I'm on the update service of the DBS system. I've been hill walking since the early 80's, rock climbing and mountain biking since the late 80's and began caving and fell running in about 2000. All these activities have been conducted in the UK as well as various locations abroad.
Freelance Staff
Additional staff are freelance outdoor pursuits instructors who hold the relevant NGB qualifications for the work they do, including a valid first aid certificate and a recent DBS check.
Using freelance instructors is easier for a small business but it also keeps instructors interested and motivated. They don't become stale because they aren't working in the same locations and for the same type of client every day. Different clients require instructors with different skills and using freelance instructors allows us to easily do this. All the instructors that Rough Edges use are known personally to Jonathan. I've worked with them and found them to be experienced, enthusiastic and motivated instructors who enjoy the work they do.
Not all instructors make the grade.
