Outdoor programmes for schools, youth organisations, funders and companies, run in real mountain, river and coastal country. Journey-based programmes that take young people out of their comfort zones and show them they are capable of far more than they knew. Every programme is shaped around the outcome you are working towards, and quoted per programme.
On every programme, participants arrive on base, meet their instructor and their group, and are issued their gear and food. Their first task is choosing what to eat for the whole journey – the first lesson in budgeting and planning. From there the group hikes out, making camp somewhere new each day.
Along the way come the challenges: rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing, navigation, group problem-solving. Every challenge is followed by a debrief where the group works through what happened, what they learned, and how it applies back home. Nobody is forced to attempt anything they are not comfortable with.
The point is never the cliff or the river. The point is the discovery that they are capable of far more than they believed.
Tell me, and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand.
Every programme we run is shaped around what a school, funder, organisation or individual is trying to achieve. Our programmes fall into four categories, each tailored to the group taking part.
For school groups, grades, prefect bodies and youth leadership groups. Grade and orientation camps, leadership journeys and President’s Award expeditions focused on leadership, resilience, teamwork, communication, personal development and problem-solving – designed from your school’s own course brief.
Made possible through donors, funders, CSI partners and other organisations, these programmes give young people who otherwise could not participate the chance to take part. Outward Bound was founded on the premise that a disadvantaged past does not have to mean a disadvantaged future.
Individuals register directly, rather than through a school or organisation. Includes our school holiday and summer programmes, such as the ten-day Summer Adventure Camp for 14 to 16 year olds at Willow Point, Sedgefield – hiking, canoeing, high ropes and abseiling, with meals, gear and 24/7 supervision included.
For prefect groups, leadership teams, organisations and other groups wanting a focused leadership and team-development experience. Participants take turns leading the group through real decisions with real consequences, mentored rather than directed, with every decision turned into a lesson they can name and repeat.
Whichever programme a group takes part in, the same areas of development run through it. Participants take turns leading, carry real responsibility, and work through hard but achievable challenges in mountain, river and coastal country. Instructors step back and mentor rather than direct, so the lessons are earned rather than delivered – and the debrief after every challenge is where they land.
The areas of development our programmes build:
School Groups
Funded Youth
Organisations
Whatever the category or the length, the shape of our programmes stays the same. This is what a school, funder or partner can expect from the day the group arrives to the report that lands afterwards.
Confidence
Teamwork
Resilience
Programmes vary in duration and are designed around your needs – from 2-3 day experiences through to 5-day, extended and 21-day programmes. Length, group size and content are set with you, and we are mobile – we can run programmes close to the communities you want to reach.
Schools
Youth Development
Corporate Groups
Programme content, length and group size are set with you, and costs are quoted per programme rather than off a price list. Tell us who you are working with, roughly how many of them, and what you want them to walk away with – we will come back with a proposal built around that.
We are a registered non-profit with Section 18A status, so corporate and CSI partners receive the documentation their reporting requires. All our programmes follow the safety and quality standards of Outward Bound International.
