Outdoor education lifeline

Outdoor education centres facing financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic can apply this month to a new £2 million fund.

Available for private sector and third sector centres, the support will help with running costs and enable staff to deliver more outdoor learning for schools.

The funding brings the Scottish Government’s support for the sector during the pandemic to £4.5 million.

Minister for Children & Young People Clare Haughey said:

“For many organisations that provide residential outdoor education, the pandemic has caused significant challenges and it’s been a really hard time for them.

“The experiences provided by these centres are vitally important for our children and young people. This additional £2 million will help outdoor education centres through what we hope will be the final phase of this pandemic. It will mean more opportunities for children and young people to get the engaging, enriching and exciting outdoor education experiences they deserve.”

Martin Davidson, The Outward Bound Trust said:

“Outdoor Centres warmly welcome the additional emergency funding from the Scottish Government. Whilst technically outdoor residential experiences have been able to resume since August, coronavirus continues to make the return to financial sustainability challenging. The funding will help ensure that outdoor centres do not close, and that the transformative experiences they offer remain available to future generations of young people.”

Background

The £2 million in funding is on top an initial £2 million provided in early 2021 and a further £500,000 provided for a range of outdoor learning projects during summer of that year, bringing the Scottish Government’s total additional investment in outdoor learning to £4.5 million.