Schools across Swindon and Wiltshire could soon be taking pupils out of the classroom and into the countryside, thanks to a new funding opportunity aimed at improving access to the great outdoors.
The Ernest Cook Trust – a UK education charity with a long-standing focus on environmental learning – has opened the latest round of its Outdoor Essentials Grant, offering £1,000 each to qualifying state-funded secondary and special schools.
Since its launch in 2019, the grant scheme has provided over £1.25 million to support outdoor learning, with more than half a million children already benefiting across some 2,000 schools. This round is targeted at schools in the GL, SN, BS, BA20, BA21 and BA22 postcode areas, including those in Swindon and wider Wiltshire.
For many children, especially those in areas of high deprivation, getting outdoors isn’t always straightforward. The grant aims to break down those barriers by helping cover costs such as travel to local green spaces, suitable outdoor clothing like waterproofs and wellies, or even improvements to school grounds to create more nature-friendly environments.
Priority is being given to schools that actively promote outdoor education and embed environmental learning within their curriculum.
The Ernest Cook Trust funds this work through its 9,000 hectares of rural landholdings, which also serve as hubs for outdoor learning and examples of sustainable farming in practice. In 2023/24 alone, the Trust invested £3.6 million into connecting young people with nature – £2 million of which was distributed in grants to schools and organisations across the UK.
With an increasing push towards hands-on, experience-led education, initiatives like this help young people develop a stronger connection to the natural world – something that has never felt more urgent.
Applications are now open. Schools that meet the criteria and wish to apply can find more details here:
https://ernestcooktrust.org.uk/what-we-do/everything-outdoors/outdoor-essentials-grant
