David Beckham has publicly praised Scottish wilderness instructor Zeki Basan after a remote birthday camping and fishing trip to the Hebridean island of Scarba. The endorsement has drawn renewed attention because Beckham’s eldest son, Brooklyn, did not join the trip or later attend his father’s 50th birthday celebrations, amid a reported family rift.

Beckham spent three days with sons Romeo and Cruz learning off-grid survival, foraging, fishing, fire-making and outdoor cooking, according to Basan. In an online review, Beckham said Basan’s environmental knowledge and commitment to traditional crafts were “infectious”; Basan will lead a wild-skills event in Lairg, Sutherland, on 5 September, including a demonstration of making leather from fish skins.