Raising awareness for Outward Bound

As some of you know, I committed to raise money for Outward Bound this year.  Their mission is to unlock the potential in young people through learning and adventure in the wild. I decided to spend time visiting one of Outward Bound’s six outdoor education centres to see how they achieve this mission and thought it would be worthwhile to write up some thoughts on the visit and some history of the organisation to provide some context to my fundraising. If you have time, grab a cup of tea and read on…

The Scottish centre lies on the shores of Loch Eil near Fort William and is their most remote, with another three in the Lake District and two in Snowdonia. Jokes can be made about the weather in all three of these locations but on a good day they are truly spectacular places which can hold their own in terms of landscape the world over. What fantastic places to take young people to build their appreciation of the outdoors, and Loch Eil did not disappoint.

The Outward Bound centre at Loch Eil opened on 1st January 1977 and, arriving by car, I was surprised and delighted to see that it has its own railway station, built in the 1980s to serve the centre by apprentices from British Rail as part of their programme. Old school, but I like it!

Photo credit: https://westhighlandline.org.uk/loch-eil-outward-bound/

Between Oct 2017 and Sep 2018, Outward Bound worked with 23,379 young people across the UK, around 5000 of which were in Scotland. Many of these young people did not have the means to attend without financial support and Outward Bound were able to give them the opportunity to go on a real adventure, to take risks and to learn from their mistakes. Here are a few quotes from recent attendees.

“I can’t possibly articulate how grateful I am and how much the course meant to me and you are the reason I was there at all. You have helped me realise my potential, my beliefs and I can’t possibly ever repay you. I want you to know that what you have done will never be forgotten, it impacts my daily life and has made me a much happier person.”

“I am very grateful for the once in a lifetime opportunity which I never dreamt of because if not for your generosity my mum would have never been able to afford to send me.”

“I learnt that I am ready to challenge myself.”

Pupils are typically selected by their teachers because they experience low self-confidence and self-esteem, shows signs of stress or anxiety, poor engagement in their learning or poor social skills. These worries and concerns have been identified by their teachers as factors that hold them back from achieving their potential.

I met with Jenny, Head of Administration at the centre, and she showed me round the Loch Eil Centre. Having just received a substantial refurbishment, the centre has been transformed with much improved accommodation, dining, and an extensive new equipment centre to cater for up to 132 young people and over fifty staff. 

Once groups arrive they separate into smaller groups (which they call clans) and they remain in these for the duration of their trip.

Each clan has a kit room within the equipment centre where they store and are responsible for all their kit every day based on the activities that they're doing.

There are plans to add learning pods as a separate space within the equipment centre so that each team of kids can use for learning and reflection on their trip. 

Good facilities for drying and storing kit daily is a must. Imagine how wet all that kit gets in Scottish winters, and summers for that matter!

I was fortunate enough to meet a teacher who was supporting her school’s visit that week. They hadn’t travelled much more than 100 miles yet it was the furthest that some of her kids had ever been away from home, and the first time they had experienced life away from a town or city. Seeing Ben Nevis was their Everest. 

We spent some time speaking about the attainment gap between pupils from richer and poorer backgrounds (also see the SIMD), and the fact that 1 in 4 children in Scotland are affected by poverty. As you can imagine, this has a significant impact on their chances of doing well at school, making a positive transition into the workplace, and even just general health and well-being. In addition, changing lifestyles and a rapid increase in the amount of time young people spend using technology in isolation from others means reduced time is being spent being active and outdoors. A recent study has shown that mental health issues are increasing across young people of all backgrounds and circumstances, with over 50% reporting always feeling stress and anxiety, and a third feeling that they don’t have control over their lives.

The UK is the sixth biggest economy in the world and the second largest in Europe. I can’t help but feel we should and could collectively be doing a much better job of looking after our people, but that’s a conversation topic for a different day.

I then had the opportunity to have a walk about the grounds with Pete, see some of the activities, and then go and observe a group canoeing in Loch Eil. Whilst there are activities like zip slides and rock climbing, the emphasis is on creating a lasting impact with the pupils by creating a different experience of challenge and achievement so they can push their limits and ultimately realise their full potential by improving social and emotional skills i.e. it’s not simply about throwing activities at the attendees, there is a real focus on responsibility, leadership and teamwork.

All the people I spoke to on my visit talked about the difference they could see in the kids after spending some time in the outdoors challenging themselves and exploring their potential. Whether it was the two girls who were terrified of jumping into Loch Eil but were so determined to do it they pinky promised each other and, through each one building from the other (first a toe, then an ankle etc) were able to achieve what most of us would have taken for granted but at first seemed impossible to them. There was another story about a girl who had arrived and suffered from such severe social anxiety that she was unable to even introduce herself to the group. Fast forward a couple of years, and she was able to stand on stage and speak to an Outward Bound conference full of hundreds of people. It’s clear from speaking to the staff who work there that seeing these transformations is incredibly rewarding.

Even something as simple as being outside in darkness, complete darkness with no light or noise (or mobile phone) pollution, can have an effect. How rarely do any of us actually experience that in modern life? I spoke to one instructor who finds it can be a really rewarding exercise to space the group out just enough so that they can’t easily speak to each other and have them spend 5-10 minutes outside in the dark with no external stimulus.

Many children return on multiple occasions and the ultimate trip is a 19 day expedition where they see the centre on day 1 and do not return until day 19. By the end of the trip the instructors are keeping tabs on the group and helping if required but by and large it is the children who are leading and making use of all the skills they have developed over previous trips. Sounds amazing, it’s a shame I’m about 20 years too old to attend!

Pete (below), walked me through the route taken on the last 19 day trip. They estimate the participants covered around 200km by human power alone, navigating around the wilderness and wild camping in the evenings using all the skills learned through multiple Outward Bound trips. What an epic experience! 

Outward Bound has undergone its own epic experience since its inception in 1941, when it was founded by German Educator Kurt Hahn and British shipping baron Sir Lawrence Holt to teach young British sailors the vital survival skills necessary after their ships were torpedoed in the mid Atlantic during World War II. 

To give you some sense of scale, the British Merchant Navy had around 180,000 people and made up around one third of the global fleet at this time. It was comprised of people from all over the empire and was comfortably the largest in the world. Ultimately more than 35,000 merchant sailors (mostly men, but including some women) would lose their lives during WWII, a much higher loss proportionately than any other armed services.

I heard anecdotally at Loch Eil that part of this training was having them spend hours in the water floating up and down the Estuary with the tide in Aberdovey. Sounds pretty tough, but I guess extreme times call for extreme measures. In case you didn’t know, Outward Bound is the nautical term to describe a ship leaving the safety of its harbour to head for the open seas.

Kurt Hahn had fled Germany after being briefly imprisoned in 1933 and set up Gordonstoun School in 1934.  It was relocated to Aberdovey in Wales during WWII as the school estate was used as barracks by the army, and it was here that Hahn and Holt founded Outward Bound based on the methods taught at Gordonstoun, where one early pupil of note was Prince Philip of Greece. I’d like to say that this is Philip pictured below but it seems unlikely!

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/outwardbounduk/4075044828/

1951 saw the first female only course, which caused some controversy in the press at the time. Fast forward to 2020 and now 50% of participants are female, with Outward Bound  championing Women’s Outdoor Leadership Courses in order to increase diversity and address inequality in their own workforce and across the outdoor instruction industry. Find out more about the Women’s Outdoor Leadership course here.

These days, while helping over 1 million people unlock their full potential, it’s clear that Outward Bound has moved with the times. After a brief troubled spell in the 1990s and subsequent turnaround working with the Duke of Edinburgh Award, Outward Bound has emerged a renewed and reinvigorated organisation. They are coming towards the end of their third strategic plan (The Mountains Are Calling), positioning the organisation to be bigger, better, stronger and bolder, whilst also setting clear statements on where they will and will not focus.

Equipping young people with the essential social and emotional skills means that they can cope with whatever life throws at them, take charge of their lives, and live life to the full. This is what Outward Bound have always strived to do. However, in order to enable all young people to flourish in life, continued investment and support is required. That’s where we can all help….

You can read Outward Bound’s latest Social Impact Report here.

Outward Bound Scotland have published the last year in review here.

And if you’ve made it this far … please consider either supporting my fundraising efforts or attending the gig I’m organising on 22nd May where all profits from ticket sales will go to Outward Bound.