Funding Opportunities for Educational and Recreational Trips - a Deep Dive!
Author: Zoë, Flooglebinder Intern
Read time: 2 minutes
Funding an international trip is no simple task, and for many, a three-week Marine Conservation adventure in Thailand or a Wildlife Expedition to Costa Rica may feel entirely unattainable. However, in reality, there are a multitude of grants, awards and bursaries available to fund educational and recreational trips both inside the UK and abroad. Applications can often be made by individuals, schools, colleges, universities and even the organisations hosting the project, depending on the criteria of the particular award.
This article aims to highlight some of the less traditional routes to funding. The volume of applications to the main grant-awarding bodies can make the process of exploring funding a little overwhelming. We’ll guide you through some lesser-known awards that might be a better fit for your application. These more ‘niche’ funding options each have a set of specific qualifying criteria, but if you or your school or college meet these caveats, it could lead to a successful application and a life-changing experience.
Applications can also often be submitted by individuals themselves to cover the costs of their place on an educational trip.
This blog will touch on:
Frederick Soddy Schools award - Welcomes applications from schools planning fieldwork involving a strong element of human geography.
John Muir Trust - For individuals who wish to travel to and experience wild places; feature an educational or scientific component and be a life-changing experience leading to a commitment to practical action to conserve wild places.
Outdoors For All - For individuals and organisations who wish to provide opportunities for recreational and leisure time outdoor activities and experiences to children, adults, persons who are disabled either permanently or temporarily, or who have special physical or mental health needs.
Seachangers - Supports individuals and schools with marine conservation projects.
Aurora Trust - Invested in connecting people to nature, aspiring to bring these positive benefits to different types of people and demographics.
Evolve Advice - Excellent guide to the latest funding and grants to support learning beyond the classroom.
Blue Spark - Provides grants for educational, cultural, sporting and other projects.
Cam and Bear Fund for Adventure - Aims to provide disadvantaged young people with more opportunities to experience the types of outdoor activities whilst also learning the importance of protecting our natural environment.
YET Awards - The Young Explorers’ Trust offers grant aid to individuals aged 25 and under who are taking part in expeditions or other adventurous activities.
Schools and colleges that prioritise adventure and the exploration of the natural world would make ideal candidates for the ‘Frederick Soddy Schools Award’ or the ‘Des Rubens and Bill Wallace Grant’ as both awards have been founded in the name of renowned researchers.
Frederick Soddy was an acclaimed chemist and Nobel laureate, who used his knowledge as a radiochemist to philosophise his approach as an economist. Soddy suggested that the economy is an integral part of the world’s ecology and argued that all economic activities should be in balance with the natural environment; he saw “the need for an economy that respects the laws of nature and the limits of our world” as imperative and has supported works of conservation and education surrounding the exploration of sustainable energy even after his death.
“The Frederick Soddy Awards provide funding for studies of the social, economic and cultural life of a region - anywhere in the world - to schools, undergraduate teams, and PhD students.”
Des Ruben’s and Bill Wallace were Scottish adventurers who sought to preserve ‘wild places’ and biodiversity for present and future generations. Bill Wallace played a key role in the development of the John Muir Trust and was driven by his determination to safeguard the wilderness. Sharing Wallace’s passion for the great outdoors (particularly Scottish coastal and mountainous landscapes) Rubens also had a distinguished career in outdoor education and was a strong believer that every individual on the spectrum of ability should be given opportunities to explore, and through the John Muir Trust a grant of £200-£2,000 in both of their names is available for aspiring adventurers.
Similarly, Outdoors For All is also a UK-based charity that not only prioritises the preservation of our ecosystem and the education surrounding it, but also highlights the incredible effects it can have on your mental and physical well-being; in support of these causes, Outdoors For All offer grants of £500-£5,000 as a contribution towards grounding experiences in nature.
Sea-Changers are a UK based charity that specialise in combating the detrimental impacts that over fishing, waste pollution and climate change have had on the marine ecosystem. With this goal in mind, the Sea-Changers organisation award a number of grants ranging from £500-£2,500 to fellow companies, individuals, schools or projects that fit this remit. For example, a Wildlife Conservation and Sustainability project in the Azores would be highly applicable for Sea-Changers funding as students would become educated on the flora and fauna in and around waterfalls, hot springs and stream holes as well as given the chance to go cetacean watching, allowing them to engage with the environment that needs protecting.
Exploring marine conservation, geothermal energy, bird conservation and geological sites, the Azores offers it all. Geographers, ecologists, biologists, hikers and outdoor adventures - there is something for everyone!.
While some benefactors highlight the parameters of what a grant can be used for, there are many organisations that make contributions to the same demographics (ie: individuals, schools, colleges and project leaders) without giving specific details as to what the project must include. For example, the Aurora Trust, Evolve Advice and Blue Spark Foundation fund youth trips that aim to enrich students' cultural knowledge through experiences in sports, arts, travel and literature. (or even a culture and conservation study tour to India).
Both the Aurora Trust and Blue Spark Foundation are registered charities and specialise in providing opportunities for young people; the Aurora Trust does so with a conversationalist’s scope. Evolve Advice is a member of the Federation of Small Businesses and acts as an outdoor education resource for schools around the world who are looking to teach specialised subjects in keeping with the Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL) and Council for Learning Outside the Classroom guidelines. While all three companies have their own focus, each offers grants from £500+ towards projects centred around their key focus of getting students out of the classroom and giving them opportunities to explore.
Applications can also often be submitted by individuals themselves to cover the costs of their place on an educational trip. Such bursaries are usually made by your local council or Parish trustee’s and vary depending on the community; however, there are also a number of organisations that sponsor enthusiastic students who demonstrate a keen determination for adventure. For example the Cam and Bear Fund for Adventure and YET Awards (Young Explorers Trust) provide funding opportunities for young individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, in order for them to take part in expeditions and activities that they may not be able to finance themselves.
I hope this has given you some useful insights into funding options and some food for thought. With so many funding resources to consider, you may soon discover that your project aligns nicely with certain eligibility criteria, so we encourage you to explore options and persist with applications. The good news is that our list is far from definitive! These are just a few examples of the many funding opportunities available, government programmes and even GoFundMe, all viable options to help support your enriching study tour to one of the many awesome places in our natural world.
