About Scout Adventures

Our story

Scout Adventures is run on a not-for-profit basis and is operated by The Scout Association, the UK’s leading youth charity in the UK. All Scout Adventure profits are reinvested into supporting outdoor adventure for young people and adult volunteers, and protecting our Scout Adventures site’s natural landscape for future generations. In line with Scout values (care, respect, integrity, cooperation, exploring our own and others’ beliefs) we believe in preparing young people with skills for life, creating better futures. For over 100 years, we've delivered opportunities and activities to millions of young people.

When Baden-Powell first took 20 young people to Brownsea Island, Dorset, in 1907 he was delivering one of the first ever residential experiences. Instinctively, he knew that the outdoors would bring out the best in them, giving them opportunities to develop their skills and confidence. Today, outdoor learning is still considered one of the best ways to transform lives and future prospects.

We’ve come a long way since then - they didn’t use GPS - but our values of care, belief, integrity, cooperation remain the same. When you allow a young person to take a risk in a safe environment, they learn and grow.

Did you know?

Scout Adventures encompasses 9 activity centres across the UK which are owned and operated by the respective national headquarters. These are:

Operated by The Scouts Association:
Broadstone Warren, East Sussex, Gilwell Park, London, Great Tower, the Lake District and Youlbury, Oxford.

Operated by Scouts Scotland:
Fordell Firs, Edinburgh, Lochgolihead, Loch Lomond and Meggernie, Perthshire.

Operated by Scouts Cymru:
Yr Hafod, Snowdonia.

Operated by Scouts Northern Ireland
Crawfordsburn, Bangor.

Skills for life

Here at Scout Adventures we believe that amazing things can happen in the great outdoors. With our expertise in informal learning (think leadership, teamwork, resilience and initiative) and world famous heritage and values, we've inspired generations of young people to reach their potential and learn skills for life.

Trusted by 57 million members and their families around the world, there's no arguing that the Scouts know what they're doing when it comes to developing young people.

We're the original outdoor pioneers and experts in character education. Our practical approach runs through everything we do and has the power to change lives and create active citizens of the future.

That's our promise of quality.

Over the years we have commissioned a number of research assessments which highlight the nature and scale of our impact on our membership. We know we help young people to develop significant personal and professional skills, benefiting individuals, the local community and employers.

We take fun pretty seriously

Ask a young person what they want out of their experience and chances are, they’ll talk about fun and friends. And this has a powerful effect on their learning. Happier children learn more, achieve more and do more.

Scout Adventures is all about the big moments. Whether it’s leaping off a jetty into a lake, chatting about the day’s activities in a bunk bed after lights out, or roasting marshmallows over glowing embers, these are memories being made. But something else is happening too. Young people are learning the character skills they need to succeed: leadership, teamwork, resilience and initiative. To them it feels like fun, but these are the experiences that help them grow as people.

Getting outdoors shouldn't be difficult

We know that a visit to Scout Adventures is often the highlight of the year. Without you, young people would not have the amazing experiences that they do. That’s why it’s important that you have everything you need to make the right decision.

Once you’ve made the decision to book with Scout Adventures, we’ll look after you every step of the way. Everything we offer is designed designed to support you to be able to take more young people away more easily.

From our dedicated customer support team to our staff on centre, you'll always be greeted by someone with a friendly smile, fantastic attitude and in-depth knowledge. We'll provide you with all of the information and resources you need to choose, book, plan and enjoy your visit - and hopefully book again!

For schools

At Scout Adventures it’s all about helping young people to do their best. We believe that learning away can have a powerful, positive impact on young people’s academic achievement.

This is supported with research by Learning Away, which suggests that a residential experience can lead to a 58% improvement in attainment at primary level and 77% improvement at secondary level. Take a look at our Learning Away case study.

	Primary % of children who believed they improved in these areas as a a result of a residential	Secondary % of children who believed they improved in these areas as a a result of a residential
Increased attainment	58%	77%
Better engagement	72%	71%
Improved relationships	75%	84%
Increased confidence	83%	82%

The Education Endowment Foundation and their toolkit evidence also suggests that young people gain an additional four months' academic progress in a year from participating in outdoor adventure learning.

We understand that we have a significant role to play in helping and supporting schools to provide high quality residential experiences for young people of all ages that are teacher-led and designed to be affordable and inclusive.

Outdoor Learning

The Institute for Outdoor Learning has a mission to increase participation in Outdoor Learning in the UK and to recognise and improve the quality of Outdoor Learning in the UK. The potential benefits of Outdoor Learning and are so many that they are grouped into four broad categories but are essentially linked to:

enhanced personal and social communication skills
increased physical health
enhanced mental and spiritual health
enhanced spiritual, sensory and aesthetic awareness
the ability to assert personal control and increased sensitivity to one's own well-being

About us