Adventure Away from Home was ‘such a good time’

Young people from a Hampshire village had “such a good time” when they enjoyed an Adventure Away from Home.

The last phase of the national Adventures Away from Home programme saw national youth work charity UK Youth manage £1,765 million of funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport across 83 providers to host outdoor learning experiences for young people facing disadvantage or under-representation.

The programme saw 12,793 young people from 703 youth groups enjoy fully-funded outdoor learning experiences between December 2023 and March 2024.

These included Fawley Youth Life, which took a group of 14 young people, aged 12-14, to UK Youth’s Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre in the New Forest for an Adventure Away from Home in March.

Fawley Youth Life is part of Fawley Parish Council and offers a range of activities and support for children and young people of all ages in Fawley, on the edge of the New Forest, near Southampton.

Highlights of their weekend trip to Avon Tyrrell included archery, climbing, problem solving, bushcraft, tackling the tree-top trail, a campfire and a night-time walk.

Coun Alan Alvey, council chairman, said: “The children from the parish had such a good time.

“The parish council really appreciates the time and effort made to give our children an Adventure Away from Home. Our youth workers said the activities were great fun resulting in some very happy and tired children at the end of the weekend.

“However, the comments made by the children on the minibus journey home must I feel be shared – when asked what they had liked best about the weekend they all agreed it was “the eating” so a special thank you should also go to the chef!”

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 9,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org 

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability, including Building Connections, a youth employability programme run in partnership with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes