The Outdoors Project
Him outdoors
The Outdoors Project’s founder Joel Evans tells us why outdoor play is so important for our kids, and why he’s got the best job in the world
There’s an air of excitement at The Outdoors Project HQ. They’ve just been shortlisted as finalists in the 2014 International What’s On 4 Juniors Awards – voted for by mums and dads across the UK. Joel is delighted for the Outdoors Project and his team, who currently teach up to 700 kids per week in afterschool clubs and workshops all over Brighton and beyond.
The Outdoors Project’s mission is simple: to get kids running around in the fresh air, engaging with nature and having adventures. All clubs take place in the open air, with the emphasis on keeping things accessible. The idea seems timely, and Joel’s not surprised by the success of recent programmes like The Island With Bear Grylls. In an interview with The Independent, Grylls has said that if he were in charge of the school curriculum, “it would include practical skills including how to light a fire, tie a knot, use a knife and build a raft” and that we “empower kids by teaching them how to do something dangerous, but how to do it safely”.
Joel agrees in the main, but stresses that his clubs focus on kids having fun as well as being active and resourceful. “When I first started doing the clubs, what surprised me was how tired the kids were getting after just thirty minutes. A lot of kids are not into team sports so we’ve always focused on activities that get them running around – they don’t realise they’re doing exercise.” Many of the games, like Dodge Ball, Tag and Hide and Seek have a competitive element with a series of forfeits and rewards. Joel is convinced that kids love this type of challenge as it gets them thinking in terms of teamwork and supporting each other. “All our clubs have mixed ages and it’s brilliant when you start to see the older kids really looking out for the younger ones.”
Joel was raised in America, where he spent most of his time playing out in the woods. Due to his dyslexia, he found school life tough but was encouraged by his parents to enjoy being active. “There was a brilliant organisation called The Indian Guides that ran camps for parents and kids, and Dad would take me and my brother kayaking and camping at the weekends.”
When Joel’s own kids came along (he has three: Mia, Ella and James) he realized how different their experience of growing up was to his own. “I’d been working as a buyer for an extreme sports company and spent a lot of time travelling to different countries testing out equipment, but then I was made redundant,” he says. “I decided to retrain and studied Sports Science. I then came across Adventure Unlimited, a great Children’s charity based in Brighton, and spent a year with them learning how to teach rock climbing, kayaking and bush craft. This really opened my eyes to the possibility for bringing adventure into kids’ lives.”
The Outdoors Project was born when a friend asked Joel to run a birthday party for his son. It was so successful that at the end of the party four other parents asked him to do the same for their kids. “At the time, I was struggling to find work as a rock-climbing or bush craft instructor and was treating the parties as a bit of a project,” he explains.
“I decided to form a company, and came up with the name: ‘outdoors’ was obvious, and ‘project’ because that’s what it was at the time.” That was three years ago. Since then the company has grown to offer thirty after school clubs, Forest School workshops, the hugely popular birthday parties and a Bristol franchise. Their newest venture is with the Steyning Saplings, a toddler nature group supported by the Steyning Downland Scheme. Katie Scanlan, The Outdoors Project’s Forest Schools leader supports schools in delivering the outdoor and environmental elements of their curriculum. “All our instructors are fully qualified in outdoors pursuits and first aid but what really sets them apart is their passion for what they do,” says Joel. “When you work with kids you become a role model, and it’s important to us that our instructors are likeable and caring.”
The biggest thrill for Joel though is getting waved at whenever he’s in town, and getting mobbed by his son’s friends when he does the school pick-up. “I spend seven days a week out with the kids running around, keeping fit and having a laugh. It’s child’s play really!”
Contact info@theoutdoorsproject.co.uk
Tel: 07597 396087
www.theoutdoorsproject.co.uk
