by Stamford Welland Academy
Year
2018
Country
UK
OADs
1.100
EUR
5.000
Target Group: Young people and families
Impact: 8 canoes to serve 1100 pupils per year for the newt 20 years. // 1100 Outdoor Activity Days
Latest #itsgreatoutthere grant helps hundreds of young people explore the outdoors on water
Dom Brister, an outdoor education teacher and leader of the parallel curriculum at Stamford Welland Academy, has led the project and applied for an #itsgreatoutthere grant after reading about the scheme online. Although the academy had an existing programme to give students canoeing experiences through experts at Bushcraft and Beyond, its scale and potential were severely limited by having to borrow boats. The #itsgreatoutthere grant allowed Dom to work with Hou Canoes to source six canoes and modify each of them to seat three people. The grant also covered the purchase of new personal flotation devices and paddles, allowing the academy to roll out a more substantial and sustained programme for students.
Owned by the academy, the equipment is being used every week by several schools, coordinated by Dom Brister, who comments:
Thanks to the investments we made with the #itsgreatoutthere grant, we are now able to engage with more students from tough backgrounds who struggle in classroom settings for a variety of reasons. Through our canoeing initiative, we are giving these young people the chance to experience freedom, while learning key skills. The project is about so much more than canoeing - it’s about leadership, ownership, management and teambuilding skills, all delivered in an outdoor setting which inspires the students. This has already made a really positive impact and will continue to do so for years, helping many more young people.
Since the start of the academic year in September, students and staff have been using the boats on the Whitewater Reservoir, access to which has been provided by the Burghley Estate team in Stamford. The response of students to the initiative has been overwhelmingly positive, with many providing very positive testimonials:
I had never been in a canoe before and I was really scared, but they really helped me get over my fear of water.
We’ve seen herons, fish, ducks, geese, water voles, dragon and crane flies and much more. On the water and around the reeds is like being on a David Attenborough show.
These boats are great for building confidence. We had a team building day for leadership and the boats helped us get across the lake as part of the challenge.”
Contact
Dom Brister
Email: enquiries@stamfordwellandacademy.org
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