Outdoor play benefits
A survey of 2,000 parents by house builder Redrow found that parents recognised the benefits of outdoor play for their child, including for their physical health (54%), to get them off screens (53%), mental wellbeing (51%), help with social skills (50%), to meet more friends (43%) and to learn about nature (41%).
Reduction in access
The Redrow survey found parents were concerned about the decline in opportunities for their children to play outside, with three-quarters blaming the danger posed by roads as a key factor. In addition,36% said the reduction in outdoor play was linked to overuse of social media (36%) and lack of safe spaces in their local area (27%).
Outdoor learning providers
The outdoor learning sector provides more than 15,000 jobs and generates £700m to the UK economy, according to the latest Outdoor Learning Sector Survey. More than half of the providers have a turnover of less than £1m and no one business model dominates – commercial, charitable and public bodies all deliver services to the sector.
Range of services
The survey of providers shows that85% deliver outdoor education and 72% offer outdoor activities for individuals. Half of operators also provide youth work services and the same proportion offer residential experiences. Most users of outdoor activities are schools, colleges and universities with just 12% booked by youth/sports clubs and children’s charities.
Financial health
More than four in 10 respondents to the provider survey reported rising turnover in 2022 compared with pre-pandemic levels, with a quarter reporting growth in excess of 20%. However, a third of providers reported a decline. Long-term,30% were ‘confident’ and10% ‘very confident’ that booking levels would rise over the next 24-72 months.
Future priorities
When asked about the priority for youth work funding in outdoor learning a significant majority of providers pointed to the need to prioritise the funding of outdoor learning activities over building workforce, developing resources or enabling outreach. In addition, they want to see greater standardisation of data collection and reporting – only40% of respondents held data on the level of engagement with disadvantaged groups of children.
Source: Parents and outdoor play research, Redrow, July 2023; Outdoor Learning Sector Survey, Institute for Outdoor Learning, September 2022 Picture: Inspired Learning
