Our work

We work across four strategic themes;

Connect

Connected communities

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Outdoor and Nature Based Learning

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Happy, Healthy Lives

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Leadership and Sector Support

Within these priority areas our day-to-day work is varied and vast. You can find us working across the third and public sectors to enhance provision of outdoor play and learning across Scotland.

What do we do?

Connected Communities

We want more children and young people to be visible within communities. We are working towards this through the Outdoor Community Play programme, currently funded by the Scottish Government. We fund outdoor community play opportunities that are free to access, child-led, and on the doorstep of those who need it most. You can find out more about the current Outdoor Community Play portfolio here.

In 2022/23, we:

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    Funded 33 Outdoor Community Play projects  

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    Created outdoor play opportunities for 9,780 children and 4562 families 

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    Provided training and support for 89 practitioners

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    Invested in 20 leaders through the Thrive Outdoors Leadership Programme

Connect

Outdoor and Nature Based Learning

We want more children and young people accessing outdoor play and learning daily in ELC and schools. We are working towards this by working with local authorities in Scotland to improve outdoor opportunities in ELC settings.  You can find out more about our consultancy work in this area here.

In 2022/23, we:

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    Supported 33 settings to enhance their outdoor play and learning provision

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    Facilitated training with 171 practitioners

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    Held 1 Outdoor Play and Learning Conference

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    Invested in 20 leaders through the Thrive Outdoors Leadership Programme

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Happy, Healthy Lives

We want more children and young people physically active and mentally well. We are working towards achieving this through the Active Play programme. We currently work with trusted delivery and training partners to deliver Active Play in schools, nurseries, and ELC settings across Glasgow and the Highlands. You can find out more about the current Active Play programme here.

In 2022/23, we:

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    Embedded the Active Play programme across 2 local authorities, across 40 settings 

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    Delivered Active Play to over 10,000 children

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    Trained 95 adults in Active Play with Actify training

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Leadership and Sector Support

We want more and better outdoor play and learning opportunities for all children and young people. We are working towards achieving this by supporting the adults in the sector through the Thrive Outdoors Leadership Programme. Find out more about leadership development with Thrive Outdoors here.

In 2022/23, we:

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    Invested in 42 leaders across the Outdoor Play and Learning sectors 

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    Supported leaders from 30 charities and 12 local authorities  

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    100% of leaders said they would recommend the Thrive Outdoors Leadership programme to others in the sector

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