Barratt Foundation to donate £1.6m to The Outward Bound Trust

The Barratt Foundation has announced a new £1.3m three year partnership with The Outward Bound Trust.

The funding will help the national youth charity to continue its work making positive changes in young people’s lives through learning and adventures in the outdoors.

On top of the £1.3m, the Barratt Foundation has also pledged to match fund up to £300,000 the money raised by readers of The Times and Sunday Times which have picked The Outward Bound Trust as one of their Christmas charities this year. In total this means that £1.6m of new funding is likely to be given to The Outward Bound Trust, making this the largest single charity donation yet made by the Barratt Foundation.

The new partnership agreement builds on the previous work that Barratt and Outward Bound delivered before the pandemic, helping to get young people ready for their next step in life, be it in education or work, or by giving them transferable skills to realise their aspirations. It will also see employees of Barratt directly support young people as ambassadors and role models on Outward Bound residential experiences.

It means that nearly 3,000 disadvantaged young people will now be able to experience a 5 day course – 15,000 days of outdoor adventure at Outward Bound’s six centres in England’s Lake District, Snowdonia in Wales and the Highlands of Scotland.

Previously Outward Bound has also helped to organise the annual Big Barratt Hike, a fundraising initiative run by Barratt which challenges its employees to walk 20 miles in just one week.

David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments PLC, said: “We know what brilliant work The Outward Bound Trust do helping young people to experience an outdoor adventure, giving them new skills and boosting social mobility. However, during the pandemic they have not been able to deliver their normal courses. This is why the Barratt Foundation is donating £1.6m to them, so they can continue to build the confidence in young people’s lives that is so urgently needed right now.”

Nick Barrett, Chief Executive of The Outward Bound Trust, said: “We are delighted that the Barratt Foundation is able to make such a huge contribution to our charity. As we rebuild from the pandemic, the wonderful generosity of the Barratt Foundation will be truly transformational. Young people need our support more now than ever before and this donation will equip them with the confidence, self-belief and resilience they need to succeed.”   

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