About

Own Pace Outfitters delivers the expedition component of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award: the planning, training, and supervised expeditions that Bronze, Silver, and Gold participants need to complete their award. We work with schools, DofE centres, and families directly, coaching at a structured, patient pace that lets every young person build the skills and confidence to get there.

Part of Independent Youth Volunteer Support

Own Pace Outfitters is a trading name of Independent Youth Volunteer Support (IYVS), a Community Interest Company built on years of hands-on youth work — Scouting, coaching, and outdoor education — rather than theory alone. That means every expedition we run sits behind IYVS’s safeguarding framework and organisational backing: proper policies, proper accountability, and a charitable structure behind the commercial offer, not just an individual instructor operating alone.

IYVS CIC · Company number [pending — confirm before launch] · Registered office: [pending — confirm before launch]

Sibling programmes

Own Pace Outfitters is one of three trading arms under the IYVS umbrella:

• IYVS — the parent Community Interest Company, and the organisation behind all three programmes below.
• Zanshin Archery — archery coaching for neurodivergent and deaf or hard-of-hearing young people, blending traditional instruction with Zen philosophy and breathwork.
• Greenwood Bushcraft — wilderness skills for schools, youth groups, and corporate clients: shelter-building, fire-starting, foraging, and navigation.

If a family or centre we work with already knows Zanshin or Bushcraft, that’s not a coincidence — it’s the same people, the same standards, and the same belief in structured, hands-on outdoor learning, applied to DofE expedition delivery.

Read more about what we offer, Lee, or get in touch if you’re a school or DofE centre exploring expedition support.