Staff Spotlight - Chris Heaney
“The outdoors is a vocation for me. When I'm not teaching, outdoor activities consume my life.”
For this month’s staff spotlight, we get to know Chris Heaney from our Sport and Fitness department. He shares with us his enthusiasm for the outdoors and tells us a bit about his family life. 🏄 🚴♂️ 🧗♂️ 👧
Tell us about yourself?
Originally from Northumberland, I spent many of my formative years adventuring in the borders and north of the border. After 12 years working for a university in the southeast of England, my partner and I decided it was time to get back north and give our daughter (and adventure apprentice) the opportunity to engage with mountains, rivers, and waves that you don't get down there. Perth immediately interested me due to its location and access to all of the above. On reflection, I'm so glad we made the move.
What is your role at Perth College UHI?
Programme Leader for the BA Hons Outdoor Education and Learning and Certificate in Outdoor Activities & Leadership.
What’s the best part of your job?
Seeing our students and colleagues of the future develop and evolve into talented, capable outdoor professionals.
What might people be surprised to know about you?
I don't drink. People always assume the opposite. Might be the Geordie accent!
Do you have any interesting hobbies?
The outdoors is a vocation for me. When I'm not teaching, outdoor activities consume my life. Being out surfing, kayaking, biking, climbing, snowboarding, and rafting in the natural environment is what keeps me healthy.
Favourite type of food?
My partner's dad is Punjabi. You can’t beat a family curry at his house.
Favourite holiday destination, and why?
Anywhere with moving water. For variety, I love white water kayaking in Europe and surfing in Fuerteventura - but I also feel very fortunate to be back living in Scotland, where it may not be as warm but our environments for these activities are amongst the best in the world!
Where would you like to go, when it is safe to travel again?
Since being a kid, I've always wanted to surf in J-Bay, South Africa, and Nias in Sumatra - but these places are so popular now, that I look to other places without so many people, but I'm not saying where!
Favourite book?
Shanteram. I was hooked. Check it out.
Have you been reading any good books?
Currently reading Yvon Chouinard's 'Let my people go surfing' and I have Barrack Obama's second biography waiting to go.
Favourite TV show or film?
North Shore, a film from the 80's that featured lots of incredible real surfers like Occy and Laird Hamilton.
Have you been watching any good tv shows/films?
Not recently but 'Line of Duty' was immense!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to make my living doing what I loved, but I didn't really know there were jobs like mine around. I guess it all worked out.
If you were a super-hero, what type of powers would you have?
Teleportation. There never seems to be enough time, so cutting down on travel to get places would help.
First thing you would do if you won £1 million?
Cure famine. Or some of it anyway.
Who, or what, inspires you?
Our students. Last year was a tough year for everyone, but the student experiences of lockdown were really up-close and personal, and they all impressed me so much. Kurt Hahn set up Outward Bound to help young people develop certain qualities, these are known as The Five Pillars of Outward Bound. They include:
An enterprising curiosity
An indefatigable spirit
Tenacity in pursuit
Readiness for sensible self-denial
And above all, compassion
I've seen these qualities in abundance in our students over the last 18 months, and it's an honour to be able to work with them all.
Happiest memory?
Hearing my daughter whooping and hollering when we're riding a wave together. There's a line in the film I mentioned above that says: "the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun". Although she's only six, I never hear anyone 'loving it' as much as she does as we go flying along the face, and I'm very lucky that we get to refresh those memories all the time and spend hours playing together in the outdoors.
And most embarrassing?
Being naked in front of hundreds of people. I'll leave that there 🙂
And finally, if someone is interested in studying Outdoor Education at Perth College UHI, what would your advice be to them?
Get in touch with me and we can have a chat. We like to practice what we preach here, and the most important thing about any educational commitment is that it's the right one for you. 📧chris.heaney.perth@uhi.ac.uk
