Nights Under the Stars
Nights Under the Stars
What is Nights Under the Stars?
Fully funded, 2 night, activity residentials in some of England's most inspirational locations for Scouts and Schools.
At Scout Adventures we're all about helping young people to do their best. We believe that nights away can have a powerful, positive impact on young people’s development – both socially and educationally.
We’ve secured funding for 2200 young people to take part in amazing 2 night residentials at our centres. The funding includes the cost of accommodation, catering and an activity programme – the only thing not included is the cost of transport to the Centre.
If you are a School or Scout group in England, and based in an IMD1-3 area, or with Pupil Premium funding of over 30% then you are eligible to apply!
How do we take part?
We’re inviting applications from Scout, School and Guide Groups (not individuals). You can apply by completing an the above form with details about your group and a supporting statement explaining the impact the residential would have on your young people.
We’ll contact you to tell you if your application has been approved and offer you a specific set of dates and location.
Who is eligible?
Young people must live within England, should be aged between 8 and 18 and you must be able to provide accompanying adults on a minimum ratio of 1 adult to every 12 young people.
To be eligible you need to be located in an IMD1-3 postcode, or for Schools, can alternatively have pupil premium numbers of 30% or higher.
When and where can residentials take place?
Residentials can take place at weekends or mid-week. Once your application has been approved we'll offer you a date and location, then you can book the details following our normal process – all funded residentials must be completed by the 31st March 2025.
For a full list of locations see the find out more section below.
Generation Green 2
Enabled by funding from DEFRA, the Scouts have joined forces with some of the UK's best known outdoor learning charities and organisations to help inspire a generation of young people to connect to the outdoors. Following on from an initial project in 2021-22, Generation Green 2 is a funded project that aims to increase and enhance opportunities for young people to engage with nature, widen access to and engagement with protected landscapes and sites, boost nature connectedness, and enable young people to gain wellbeing benefits from accessing the natural environment.
Generation Green is delivered by the Access Unlimited coalition - a unique coalition of not-for-profit youth organisations, school residential, outdoor education providers, and organisations responsible for managing our protected landscapes. We aim to ensure there are opportunities for every child to access high-quality learning and residential experiences both in green and blue spaces through our collective network of hostels, campsites, and activity centres. The coalition comprises YHA, Outward Bound Trust, Field Studies Council, Girlguiding, Scouts, the National Parks Authorities, and the National Landscapes Association.
Takeover Gilwell Park
Scouts can also apply for funded places on the Takeover Gilwell Park events this august. We have a limited a number of funded spaces to allocate to each other three Cub, Scout and Explorer events.
Use the application form above to apply!
Takeover Gilwell is a summer-camp style event with an action-packed programme. You'll work towards achieving new badges that you can’t do on an average Monday night. Takeover is built around ticking off elements of the Scouts activity badges, challenge awards and top awards.
Use the application form above to apply!
"Our full program leader was amazing, activities were fantastic and overall we had a beautiful time."
Find Out More
How do I apply for funding?
Who can take part in Nights Under the Stars?
No, the funding is restricted in who can apply and where it can be used.
Scouts:
To be eligible your groups registered location must be located in an IMD1-3 postcode, and within England. Exceptionally we may grant places where you can show that the majority of young people live in IMD1-3 postcodes even if the Group is not based in one. We will prioritise groups who have not previously received funding to travel to one of our centres.
Schools:
To be eligible your school will need to be within England and have a Pupil Premium funding rate of 30% or higher, OR will need to be located in an IMD1-3 postcode.
What's included in the funding?
Do we have to pay anything?
The only cost to you is the cost of transport to one of our centres. Please speak to us if you would like advice or information to organise your transport.
Young people will need to have suitable clothing and footwear for the outdoors, as well as a sleeping bag. A recommended kit list is available on our website. We are currently exploring options to support groups where this will be a barrier to participation.
What instructed activities will we do?
We’ll provide a mixed programme of activities. An example of the instructed activities in the residential could include; high ropes, a target activity such as archery, a team building activity or a bushcraft activity.
Do Scout Adventures lead the whole programme?
Evidence shows that the best outcomes from residentials happen when leaders/teachers are involved with the programme. For some of your programme we will provide resources and equipment for activities to be led by the adults with the group. This might include activities such as orienteering, explorer trails, pedal go karts, grass sledging or bouldering.
All of these “leader-led” activities are provided with full instructions and a member of our team will brief you on how to run the activity.
What does a typical residential look like?
Arrival and Departure
Mid-week groups usually arrive at lunch time on day 1 and depart at lunchtime on day 3. Weekend groups will usually arrive on a Friday evening and depart after lunch on Sunday. We'll agree exact timings with you when you book.
Accommodation
There are 2 options available at most of our sites – you can stay indoors in one of our lodges or you can spend the night under canvas in our purpose built tented villages.
Catering
We’ll provide catering from the first meal after your arrival until your departure. Mid-week residentials should plan to bring a packed lunch for lunch on day 1. We can cater for most dietary needs and requirements with enough notice.
Activity Programme
We’ll agree the programme with you but it will be a blend of instructed activity and leader led activity – this mix produces the greatest impact for young people. We have deliberately allowed some free time for young people to play and explore the safe environment of our centres.
What about Safety and Supervision?
Are the activities safe?
Where applicable, we hold an AALA license for the activities we instruct and for other activities we voluntarily take part in the UK wide Adventure Mark scheme, and the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge scheme. All of our instructors are trained and assessed to deliver adventurous activities by industry specialists with appropriate qualifications. They are also DBS checked and hold first aid qualifications.
We risk assess all of our activities and provide suitable controls to minimise risk, however, as with any activity, we cannot eliminate risk entirely. You will need to complete a risk assessment for the parts of your residential not managed by us – in line with your own organisations requirements. You can find our risk assessments, and guidance on what you need to do here
As a part of Scout Headquarters we follow the organisation's Policy, Organisation and Rules (POR) and hold appropriate public liability insurance.
What about the self-led activities and free time?
We will provide full instructions and brief the supervising adults on how to supervise the self-led activities we provide to help you ensure they are both fun and safe.
Our Centres are the perfect space for young people to be free and explore – we would encourage you to let them do this. Learning to take responsibility and manage your own well- being is a key life skill and is one of the main benefits to young people participating in a residential.
You can read this document from the English Outdoor Council and Outdoor Education Advisors Panel to find out more about balancing risks and benefits in the outdoors.
Who looks after the young people?
The accompanying adults with the group are in charge of looking after the wellbeing of the young people in their group. You’ll be able to bring as many adults as you need to meet your supervision ratio. During instructed activities our qualified instructors will manage the safety of the group.
Research has shown that residentials foster a better relationship between young people and leaders/teachers that is beneficial back home where you normally meet. We encourage all adults to be actively involved in the residential and enjoy spending time with their group.
When will the residential be?
You can choose a range of dates which would suit your group, we’ll then work to offer you a slot and location within that date range. As this is a funded opportunity all residentials will need to be completed by March 31st 2025 – you will not be able to transfer your places into the future, this also means that if you can not make the offered dates we may not be able to offer a suitable alternative.
When will we hear if we have been awarded funding?
Applications are open until the 24th of May, and we will not begin allocating places until that time.
We anticipate a large number of applications and expect it to take a number of weeks to process applications. We will contact all applicants in June to either offer a place, OR inform them that they were unsuccessful.
Where can we take part?
Residentials can be completed at 4 of our locations, due to the need to be completed in a protected landscape (National Park, AONB or SSSI)
Broadstone Warren, East Sussex, RH18 5JS– Indoor and Camping accommodation. From August.
Gilwell Park, N. London, E4 7QW - Indoor and camping accommodation. From August.
Great Tower, Cumbria, LA23 3PQ – Indoor and camping accommodation. From August.
Hawkhirst, Kielder, NE48 1QZ – Indoor accommodation. From August.
Why go on a residential?
Residential experiences can transform the learning experience of young people and raise their aspirations both in school and beyond, into the wider community, further study, and the world of work. Residentials provide opportunities to enhance and promote vital life skills including risk, resilience and responsibility.
If you want to know more about the benefits of residentials or want information to help you make the case for taking your group on a residential have a look at the Brilliant Residentials campaign https://learningaway.org.uk/impact/
The Scout method
We use the Scout method that has been proven for over a 100 years by over 37 million people around the world:
Making choices
- Taking responsibility
- Enjoying what you’re doing
- Learning by doing
- Working in groups
- Learning outdoors
How do funded places for Takeover Gilwell Park work?
Within the funding we secured a small number of funded places to support groups to visit this event. Just like the other residentials applications need to be from groups and not individuals, and we will allocate places to ensure that we are able to make the maximum use of the funding to enable young people to take part.
What if we've already booked a place?
This funding must to be used to enable young people to take part in adventures that they otherwise would not have been able to participate in, therefore we are unable to fund groups who have already booked places as they have already managed to secure access for their young people. We recognise that this may be disappointing for some groups but unfortunately the timing of the funding means we were not able to offer this opportunity any earlier.
What if we've already booked a place?
This funding must to be used to enable young people to take part in adventures that they otherwise would not have been able to participate in, therefore we are unable to fund groups who have already booked residentials/camps as they have already managed to secure access for their young people. We recognise that this may be disappointing for some groups but unfortunately the timing of the funding means we were not able to offer this opportunity any earlier.
Is there any other funding available?
We continually work to access funding opportunities for groups to take part in adventures. When new opportunities become available we will share these with groups who we believe are eligible.
More questions?
Please drop us an email: info@scoutadventures.org.uk
"Brilliant! All the staff and volunteers were so friendly and welcoming. The activities were fantastic. All the youngsters (and leaders) have been saying it was amazing!"
Did you know?
Our centres are mostly run by a team of over 100 residential volunteers who join us for placements of 6 to 12 months from all around the world.
The programme is also open to UK applicants aged 18 or over - so if you know someone who's looking for an adventure, would like to gain activity permits and qualifications, and wants to make new friends from around the world then then pass on our details!
There are only a limited number of places available on each placement. You’ll get a full training programme in how to instruct activities and work with young people as well as being provided with uniform, food, accommodation, out of pocket expenses and an amazing experience seeing young people develop. Most important though you’ll make lifelong friends and develop some amazing skills that will look great on your CV or university/job application