Welcome to the Wild Side of Life, founded twenty odd years ago to share my passion for wild food, herbs, mushrooms, conservation and connecting with each other and the land through many different kinds of experiences.
With over 3 decades of foraging experience, I have taught thousands to forage safely & sustainably. As the author of “Poisonous Plants in Great Britain“, I can show you how to avoid making harmful mistakes, and as an ethnobotanist and researcher into the pharmacological uses of plants & fungi, I use my time to enable health practitioners and communities to safely benefit from the natural resources that are growing all around them.
The Wild Side of Life is proud to have founded the annual UK & Ireland Medicinal Mushrooms Conference, as well as the established online training for healthcare practitioners; “Exploring the Healing Potential of Medicinal Mushrooms“, with students regularly taking part from across the globe. From time to time I also teach wilderness skills and survival crafts courses, as a way of keeping my own connection to the earth and to nature, strong!
The natural world faces an uncertain future, and the destiny of our species and many others depends closely upon it. With this in mind, I invite you to join me and learn some of the skills that we may need to build a more sustainable future. Whatever we do together, you must bring your camera, bring your notepad, bring your mind. We may forage for some common species for food and medicine, but what you will take home will be knowledge of our interdependence with each other and with all of nature. If we can nurture our environment so that it can flourish and grow, well… that will be the real food that sustains us into the future.
See you in the wild!
Frederick Gillam LCGI Cert. Ed. FLS METF
(also known as ‘Fred The Forager’)
… also watch out for occasional courses in
As featured on BBC Countryfile and in the BBC Countryfile Magazine UK Top 10 Foraging Courses
Recommended in The Sunday Telegraph Top 5!
Best Food Foraging Education Provider – UK South
Best in Category for our North Devon Forager’s retreat
The Wild side of life is an ethical business. Our work has proudly supported:
The Childline Ball, London
BBC Children in Need, Carfest South, Hampshire
Toolbuzz Travelling Museum Project, Wiltshire
Bath & North-East Somerset (B&NES) Carers Centre
Festival of Learning, Bath
SCAN – Swindon Climate Action Network
The Chiltern Society
The Richard Jeffries Museum, Swindon
Marlborough Downs: Space for Nature
The Coracle Society
Avon Needs Trees
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Epping Forest District Museum Trust
The Wild Side of Life has provided media content, team building and training for:
The National Trust
BBC
ITV
Chris Evan’s Carfest
Tate Britain
Charlie Bighams
Greencore Foods
National Federation of Women’s Institutes
The Wild Side of Life has provided training and education in association with the following Integrative Healthcare Schools and Professional Bodies:
(NIMH, AMH, IRH, BIRCH, ARA, ARCH, Excelsior School of Herbal Medicine, Plant Medicine School)
