European Social Fund

Trainee Blog 4 – A Day on the Hill

By Ryan The course provided by COAT is a one of a kind experience in my opinion. It has given and is still giving the team and I an experience that will be with us all forever. Building these paths in the hills just can’t be beaten in my eyes, what with the ridiculously beautiful […]...

Trainee Blog 3 – Deer Fencing at Balmoral Estate

By Carly As part of COAT’s training programme the 8 trainees on the course have the chance to learn other skills alongside footpath work. After a welcome two week break we were all ready to check in at a lovely hostel in Ballater and spend the next two weeks learning how to construct deer fencing […]...

Trainee Blog 2- Creag Bheag

By Josh During an eight week period the team of trainees constructed an upland footpath on Creag Bheag which is situated just outside the village of Kingussie.  Everyone was in good spirit as it would be our first official work site and the fact our office was outdoors with stunning views made everyone that little […]...

Trainee Blog 1 – The Beginning

By Amelie The course began with a day of paperwork, eight trainees sitting around a table piled high with forms and folders and cups of tea. All excited to be there and eager to get out into the hills we got all the boring stuff out of the way in time to spend the last […]...

Welcome to our new Trainees

We are delighted to welcome our new trainees to COAT, they are Alex Brown, Amelie Sumpter, Carly Raines, Josh Lee, Matthew Rochester, Neil Banks, Ryan Ward and Sarah Lawther. Starting last week, they’ve hit the ground running and have already completed their induction, first aid and manual handling courses and are now carrying out footpath […]...

Trainees Tackle Maintenance on Meall a Bhuachaille

The Trainees took to the heights of Meall a Bhuachaille to learn all about path maintenance and why its one of the key factors in path construction. They learned how to clean out waterbars, cross drains and make sure all ditching was all clear from any debris.They were also taught how to rebuild the 7 waterbars that […]...

Workplace Safety First

First Aid Training Course Our Trainees were on a workplace First Aid Training Course with Outwardly Mobile First Aid. The course covered all aspects of first aid in the workplace, which is vital to have for the environment that the trainees will be testing themselves against over the next 8 months. The course covered all […]...

Trainees Make The Grade 2013

Well done to our 2013 trainees who successfully completed this years SVQ Level 2 Environmental Conservation training course. We wish them every success for the future.  ...

Coat achieves SQA Approved Centre status

We are delighted to announce we have been awarded Approved Centre status by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. We have been running the Path Skills Training Project for 2 years in Partnership with NTS SQA Centre in Inverness. However this development establishes a new independent further education facility in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, […]...

Getting To Grips With Machinery

Machine Build Nethy Bridge The trainees got to grips of the controls of a 360 excavator on their latest training site. There were Improvements to be made to  a woodland path,  involving the setting out of a path tray to 1.5m width, 150mm deep, infilling with 250mm sub base and topping with 25mm top dust....