Finding Light in the Wild: Red Equipment Supporting Wilderness Wellbeing Retreats

The Power of Connection

Founded by Yaz, Wilderness Wellbeing grew from her own journey through chronic illness — years of battling a painful skin condition that left her feeling isolated and hopeless. In seeking healing through holistic practices and community connection, Yaz found her purpose: to help others find the same light she discovered.

Today, Wilderness Wellbeing runs mixed-gender and women-only retreats several times a year, creating spaces that combine natural beauty with accessible wellness practices. Each event offers an opportunity to connect deeply - both with others and with oneself.

A Weekend of Healing and Discovery

The Winter Retreat was a rich tapestry of outdoor and holistic activities:

• Cookery workshops and homegrown beeswax candle-making
• Silver smithing
• Yoga, breathwork, and sound baths
• Wild swimming, woodland workouts, and traditional saunas
• Shared woodland dining with nourishing, seasonal food

Meals reflected the season’s warmth, hearty broths, spices, vegetarian options, and locally sourced venison from Yaz’s brother, a Cairngorms stalker. Each evening, the group gathered around the roaring fire in Yaz’s family home in the evening to share tales of resilience, renewal, and hope.

A room of strangers soon became a community, bound not by background, but by lived experience, compassion, and Scotland’s rugged landscape.

Partnership with Purpose

As a non-profit organisation, Wilderness Wellbeing partners with local and national charities to make these experiences accessible for all, including Andy’s Man Club, a charity supporting men’s mental health.

Thanks to Red Equipment’s support, Yaz was able to offer three fully funded places on the retreat: two for participants referred through Andy’s Man Club, and one for a single mum struggling with chronic illness.

These contributions offered much more than financial access, they opened doors to connection, recovery, and self-belief.

Changing Lives, One Retreat at a Time

Alex McClintock, Head of Groups Scotland at Andy’s Man Club, shares:

“Wilderness Wellbeing weekends are a great way for us to take some of the lads from ANDYSMANCLUB to a special place in the Cairngorms to let them have a unique experience with Yaz and her welcoming and wonderful family. The last retreat was amazing and warm, especially with some dry robes for when we were cold water swimming and having lunch in the woods.

Red Equipment’s support allows Wilderness Wellbeing to continue to help not only AMC, but other charities and individuals access the retreat, and the difference that one weekend makes can be life changing.”

One of the funded spaces was offered to a single mum living with a severe skin condition called TSW. She shared what the experience meant to her:

“As a solo parent with chronic illness, this retreat was the light at the end of a dark and challenging autumn. Wilderness Wellbeing gave me a mental and physical break I could never have afforded, and most importantly, it reminded me that I’m not alone.

Being welcomed into a home filled with love and warmth, in the heart of Scotland’s mountains, helped me reconnect with myself. I came back feeling resilient again, inspired to make small positive changes and carry that sense of peace back into everyday life.”

You can read more about Wilderness Wellbeing here: https://www.wildernesswellbeing.scot/

And listen to a podcast about the retreat here which was sponsored by the charity ‘Mikey’s Line’: https://getinvolved.mikeysline.co.uk/podcasts/ Episode Numbers 59 and 60.