Stramash deliver a wide range of top quality outdoor activities in Oban and Argyll. Using the unique wild Scottish landscape, our fully qualified and experienced instructors will give you the quality personal experience you are looking for. We pride ourselves in providing memorable, real and unique outdoor adventure experiences that are of outstanding quality. If you are looking for things to do in Oban and Argyll then join us for a taste of adventure.

At last ... the waiting is over ...!  We are delighted to announce that we are a regional winner of an RBS CommunityForce award of £6,000 which will be used to support our work with people living in difficult circumstances.  Dependent on public votes we are delighted to have received such fantastic support.  A huge thank you to everyone who voted and registered their support for us, we really appreciate it.

Inspired by London 2012, Stramash are partnering with Argyll and Bute Council to deliver 56 courses in a range of sports and activities; building on five years of successful growth in quality sports coaching developing quality coaches teaching in quality clubs in Argyll.

Whether you are looking to develop your skills in a particular sport, want to learn more about sports coaching or want to try something new Coaching Champions 2012 has the right combination of programmes to meet your needs. 

Stramash are leading courses on BCU Foundation Safety and Rescue Training, BCU 2* Award, Teaching Orienteering, BCU 3* Sea Kayak Award, Mountain Skills and Navigation, UKCC Level 1 Paddlesports Award, and BCU White Water Safety and Rescue Training Course.

Voting for our project to benefit from a Royal Bank of Scotland Community Force Award has now closed.
A huge thank you to everyone who voted and registered their support for us, it was encouraging to receive so much support. We will find out some time in November if we have been successful. We will let you know how we get on.

Stramash is a social enterprise and a registered charity that uses the outdoor environment to provide life changing experiences. We currently have a number of projects we are working on including an apprenticeship scheme for local young people, adventure clubs that use a mixture of structured and unstructured play and exploration to promote personal and social development, outdoor sports development, Gaelic language development in the outdoors, outdoor learning projects and Forest Schools.

It was a great privilege for Stramash to be invited to a reception with the Scottish Government Cabinet this week to celebrate the work that Stramash and others have been doing to develop outdoor sports and physical activity over the past year.

The reception was held at the Nevis Range near Fort William. Alex Salmond, First Minister, gave an inspiring and encouraging speech about the need to develop outdoor activity and outdoor sports and the support that the Government are providing for this to happen.

Stramash were given the opportunity to speak individually with a number of the Cabinet, including the First Minister, and to discuss a variety of relevant topics. We were very honoured to be given such a rare opportunity.

Alex Salmond, who had presented the original Stramash with a CoSLA Excellence Award in 2006, was keen to hear of the progress Stramash had made and of the impact of our work. He was very interested in the outdoor sports development work that Stramash carries out. He also wanted to know which activity was most popular! (It’s canoeing and kayaking if you were wondering!)

Kenny MacAskill, who visited Stramash two years ago to see our work firsthand, wanted to discuss our projects with young people and in particular our apprenticeship scheme. He was pleased with the way things had developed since he visited us.

We did suggest to Nicola Sturgeon that she persuade the rest of the Cabinet to take part in one of our outdoor team development days, but she didn’t think they would be up for it!

John Swinney was very interested in the story of Stramash and our journey from Lottery funded project, to Local Authority service, to independent social enterprise. Such a journey was, he felt, encouraging and an example of what is possible with some commitment, passion and inspiration. We spent some time talking about social enterprise and the role it has to play in today’s society.

We had an excellent discussion with Alasdair Allan, the Minister responsible for Gaelic. He was delighted to hear of our work with both Gaelic medium school pupils and with the families of the pupils. He was encouraged to know that we are using the outdoors as a way for people to use the language and develop their skills in it and is keen for us to keep him up to date with our future progress.

The chance to spend time with each of the members of the Cabinet and to tell them the story of Stramash and of the impact of our work really was a great privilege. The reception was also a great opportunity to meet various members of sportscotland and to discuss outdoor sports development with them.

All in all it was a very worthwhile time.

That’s a lot of people!

During the past year, Stramash worked with 2037 people. In total we delivered 4543 individual sessions. The team were kept busy! One of our aims is to inspire people using the outdoors and to help make a real difference to peoples lives. We are pleased that we were able to work with so many people to help do that.

Stramash will be at the Charities Day on Saturday!
Come along and see Stramash in Oban town centre for the Charities Day. It’s a great day out- lots to do and see. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Summer is almost here with only a few weeks to go until the school holidays!  The Stramash team are busy preparing six fun filled weeks of activity for you to explore, discover, have fun and enjoy the adventure. 

Our Summer Youth Programme 2011 offers a range of adventures for everyone between the ages of 5 to 17 years, individuals or groups of friends.  All equipment, travel and activity instruction is included in the cost.

If you would like to join us while we conquer the Crags on our climbing and abseiling day, explore Loch Awe on a canoe adventure or discover the challenges of the River Spey on the Spey Descent visit the Youth Courses page now to find out more and book your place. 

There is lots on offer this summer, whether you want to spend a week on a yacht, go coasteering for a day or try your hand at wild archery for half a day.  Don’t miss the activity camps – Girls Allowed and Boyzonly – they’re great fun!

Our admin team has expanded to include Shiralene and Catriona this week. Catriona has already been out coasteering with us and had a great time. Give Shiralene or Catriona a call and find out more about the amazing activities on offer this summer.