About Vicky Manning
Vicky Manning is a Therapeutic Wilderness Practitioner, trauma informed coach, forager and outdoor educator.
She has worked with both community groups and private individuals in Scotland for over 20 years.
Her passion for the outdoors and wilderness therapy activities was sparked as a child, spending time living and travelling with her Grandparents, foraging and collecting wild food and medicine for the pot and the store cupboard, and learning how to apply wilderness to wellbeing.
My Mission
To help people to take control of their own health and well-being through the power of Nature and the great outdoors and in doing so forge a greater respect for our planet.
My Ethos
- To work with small groups so I can provide a more personal and intimate learning experience.
- To educate about wild living with a therapeutic aim, through wild food, wild medicine, folklore, wild craft and bushcraft.
- Healing trauma through the power of the great outdoors and healing the Earth through compassion and connection
- To provide follow up support and guidance.
Timeline of the Forager's Kitchen
1998
After completing an undergraduate degree in applied psychology, Vicky Manning moved to Oban, on the west coast of Scotland with her two daughters.
1999
She started her first business, supporting vulnerable adults to maintain independent living in the community.
2012
Vicky started an outside catering company, specialising in wild foods and a micro sourdough bakery, again using wild and locally grown ingredients, with an aim of being as sustainable as possible with a minimal environmental footprint.
2014
A move to Glasgow saw Vicky starting to teach about wild food, folk medicine, wild crafting and bushcraft with public sessions as well as to schools, community groups and universities.
2019
The Little Foragers Kitchen was born and during the first Covid19 lockdown of 2020 and Vicky switched temporarily online, to deliver sessions to empower people to safely forage and turn what they had gathered into both delicious food and healing medicine. Recognising the impact of social isolation on mental health and wellbeing and the healing power of being outdoors with Nature, Vicky trained with EQE Outdoors to become a Wilderness Therapeutic Practitioner to enable her to deliver outdoor programmes to support and empower people to take control of their own health and well being. She is also a trauma informed coach, having completed certificates with The Centre For Healing.
2022
Vicky moved back to Oban to be closer to her daughters and continues to deliver experiences and events in both Oban, Greater Glasgow and across other parts of Scotland and the rest of the UK. She undertakes regular continuous professional development and has a strong network of other facilitators who she regularly collaborates with, giving each other support and enabling her to deliver more meaningful and relevant experiences.
Accreditations
Association of Foragers member
Trauma Informed coach
Wilderness Therapeutic Practitioner
Undergraduate degree in applied psychology
Wilderness Therapy expert
