Doncaster outdoor centre KIngswood launches hardship fund for school trips

Kingswood, which has a centre in the Dearne Valley, has set up the fund to open up residential experiences to children, following cancelled trips amid rising costs for schools.

Each school can apply for up to two fully funded places out of every 10 young people they bring, to help make adventures accessible to all.

Children aged 6-18 at the time of attending will be eligible for 100% funding to cover the cost of their place.

Dearne Valley in Doncaster is one of the 11 Kingswood locations running the fund.

The new fund means that young people won’t miss out on the opportunity to go on a school day trip or residential programme which for many is the only chance in the year they have to enjoy a confidence-building, adventure away from the classroom.

Schools can apply up to 12 weeks before a visit, by emailing [email protected]

Over the course of a year, around 180,000 children benefit from its outdoor adventures. A typical Kingswood day or residential trip is based around character development, to help equip a child with the tools needed to develop adaptability skills for real life scenarios.

Groups can enjoy memorable outdoor adventures including challenging activities such as zip wire, high ropes, bushcraft and orienteering.

A spokesman said: “The memories made together with their classmates, in the fresh air, last a lifetime, and the skills developed can be bought back into the classroom too.”

Guy Chadwell, Chief Operating Officer at Kingswood, said “Every child deserves an adventure, and we’ve launched our hardship fund to help support young people enjoy this.

"Especially in the current macro-economic situation, schools are under more pressure and children are more likely to miss out on valuable life experience which we provide on our day and residential camps.

"The funding will help ensure schools and parents who are facing financial hardship, and thinking about cutting back, to guarantee their children still can enjoy confidence building trips.

“The aftermath of the pandemic has shown that our young people have suffered immensely. Day trips and residentials are an important part of helping re-train our young people to adapt to everyday situations and thrive in their environment. We’re very proud to launch this initiative and look forward to welcoming more young people to our camps.”

Despite £4 billion of extra funding from the government for the education sector in 2022, schools are grappling with the Cost-of-Living crisis, rising energy costs and increasing staffing costs.

This means many are considering cutting costs and confidence building, transformative trips are at risk. For some children trips run by schools are the only chance to experience activities like Kingswood runs, and as a passionate champion of children celebrating its 40th birthday this year, Kingswood launched its Hardship Fund to give as many children as possible the chance of an adventure.