Connecting you to nature through foraging and improving physical and mental health in the process.
Log in to Nature
What is Foraging?
Foraging can mean slightly different things to different people, but to me, foraging is searching for, identifying and gathering wild natural resources that can be of use – primarily as food but also for medicinal and bushcraft purposes.
Who am I?
My name’s James, lover of life and powered by positivity and perspective! I grew up on a North Yorkshire farm and fell in love with the countryside and nature from an early age.
My love of foraging started on nature walks with my parents, where picking wild food was just a way of life. In adulthood, I followed a different path but hit a low point in 2015 which re-ignited a passion for foraging. By the Spring of 2016, foraging was a hobby, then an obsession, and in 2022, The Forager Within was born with a mission to connect people to nature and improve physical and mental health in the process.
I also love hikes, James Bond, wine, astronomy, cacti and crocodiles! You can learn more about me and my journey to setting up The Forager Within here.


Driven by Purpose
I set up The Forager Within to teach people about wild food foraging, but with the higher purpose of connecting people to nature and helping improve physical and mental health in the process. I believe that both we and the planet would benefit from moving closer to nature. My mission is to help make that happen.
My Courses
My public foraging courses run in and around Huddersfield (West Yorkshire), Sheffield (South Yorkshire), Northallerton (North Yorkshire) and Manchester. Course dates for Spring, Summer and Autumn 2025 are now live, and Gift Vouchers are also available.
I also run private events such as corporate foraging events for businesses, children’s foraging events such as for schools and scout groups, foraging events for hen and stag dos, and many more, anywhere in mainland UK. To enquire about private events please contact me via email ([email protected]) or phone (07712 213470).
EXCELLENT Based on 92 reviews Luka Durasinovic6 April 2025Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. The spring full day course was really great! Learnt a lot, got to eat and learn to identify a lot of species. Very excited to keep my foraging journey going. James is a good teacher and I feel confident with the knowledge gained from him. Philip Lightowler31 March 2025Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. As a first "foraging experience " it was delivered at an understandable level, very professionally with a good dose of humour and facts. We took on board as much of the information given and hopefully will enjoy foraging by ourselves. Excellent 5 stars. John Lawson30 March 2025Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Thank you James! We left the course feeling very much more knowledgeable about foraging. We were taken round some beautiful countryside, were encouraged to find safe plants that can be foraged and made aware of how to avoid the less safe ones. The course was fun, informative and nurturing (James offered us all some sustenance he had brought with him). There has been some very useful follow-up resources too. A brilliant way to spend a morning and an inspired gift to us from our daughter. Hope to come back for another course this year. Mark Brown29 March 2025Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. James took us on an early spring introduction to foraging course in Northallerton. We learnt so much and had a wonderful morning. James was incredibly knowledgeable and could answer every question we had. I would highly recommend the course, if like us, you are foraging novices, and would like a springboard into foraging from an expert who clearly has a huge passion for foraging. Leanne Jackson14 November 2024Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Brilliant forage in Huddersfield - James is so knowledgeable and super engaging, and managed to teach beginner level information alongside some technical language without losing even my ten year old. Both kids absolutely loved it. Learned loads and today I think I found my first Wood Blewit! We’ll definitely go again next year 👍 Angeli Quarrie12 November 2024Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. What a fascinating adventure, James was so incredibly knowledgeable and spotted funghi that I would never have seen but I do know where to look now! Also going to try including wild sorrel and the seeds of Himalayan Balsam into my cooking just so amazing! Highly recommended! Mike Luppnow11 November 2024Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. This was our first introduction to foraging and found James to be extremely knowledgeable and welcoming. The Forager Within comes highly recommended and I can imagine the team building that could be done with James’ expertise. Sarah Brown11 November 2024Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Really inspiring and knowledgeable. We learned a lot and had a lovely time. Anne Bladen2 November 2024Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. James really opened our eyes to the variety of edible (and inedible) plants and mushrooms on our doorstep, and gave lots of very helpful tips and advice. Miles2 November 2024Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. James is really knowledgable and so interesting to listen to. Really inspiring learning how to forage and just how much free edible plants are all around us, even in cities. He had great tips on how to cook what we foraged too. He also followed up after the session with an email summarising what we went through and some recommended reading. I was on a course in autumn so we did a lot of mushroom foraging, but I'm thinking of booking again in a different season to see what else I can learn about. The walk he takes you on is a couple of miles and pretty slow-paced and we didn't go anywhere that terrain was too difficult, so it's not just for seasoned hikers or anything like that. Really recommend if you're interested in foraging and the outdoors.