Donate to Outward Bound South Africa and you put a young person on a course. Outward Bound South Africa is a registered non-profit. Almost every young person who comes on a course is here because somebody else paid for their place, their food, their transport and their gear. This page sets out the ways you can be that somebody.
Funds raised go directly to young people growing up in disadvantaged communities. A sponsored place covers the programme fee, transport to the venue, meals for the journey, the gear issue and a qualified instructor with the group throughout, so that no young person is left behind because of what a course costs.
We are a registered non-profit with Section 18A status, so corporate and CSI partners receive the documentation their reporting requires, and every funded course comes back with a written report and an individual assessment for each participant.
“The experience of helping a fellow man in danger, or even of training in a realistic manner to be ready to give this help, tends to change the balance of power in a youth’s inner life with the result that compassion can become the master motive.”
Kurt Hahn, founder
Cash is the most flexible thing you can give us, because it goes wherever the gap is on the day. It can be a single place on a course, one line of a budget, or a standing monthly amount that lets us plan the year ahead.
Any Amount
Once or Monthly
Section 18A
In-kind giving lands on base and goes into the field with the next group. If you are not sure whether something is useful, ask us first rather than buying it, because we would rather tell you what is short this month.
Gear
Food
Vehicles
We run on a small permanent team and a wider circle of people who show up when a course does. Volunteers are vetted and briefed the same way staff are, because the safety standard does not move.
Instructors
Course Support
Skills
Tell us which of these you want to back and we will show you exactly what it pays for, what it costs and what comes back to you afterwards.
A sponsored place covers the programme fee, transport to the venue, meals for the whole journey, the gear issue and a qualified instructor with the group from start to finish. Sponsor one participant, a school group or an entire course. Every funded course comes back with a written report, individual assessments and the participants’ own experience letters.
Every group is issued food for the whole journey, and choosing and budgeting it is the first lesson of the course. Non-perishables, bulk staples and fresh produce go straight onto base, and gifts toward catering feed groups who would otherwise not be able to travel. Supermarket and food producer partnerships are particularly welcome.
Outward Bound South Africa is mobile. Instructors, tents, ropes, boats and safety equipment travel with the team, which is what lets us run a course in a partner’s own community rather than only at our bases. We are actively looking for a double cab 4×4, by donation, loan or lease, along with canopies, fit-outs, servicing and fuel support.
Ropes, helmets, harnesses, tents, packs, sleeping bags, stoves and first aid supplies. Technical safety equipment is retired on a schedule rather than when it fails, which is a cost that never stops. Gear donations and equipment funding translate directly into how many groups we can put in the field each year.
Unrestricted giving is the most useful of all, because it covers what a restricted grant will not: instructor training and requalification, vehicle maintenance, base upkeep, monitoring and evaluation, and the administration that keeps a non-profit compliant. Give once, or set up a monthly amount.
Part of Outward Bound International - 65 000 participants since 1992
