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Come Outside! programme

The programme delivered important learning for future initiatives seeking to tackle physical inactivity and improve the health, well-being and employability of those most in need. The programme received £1.1m funding from Big Lottery (53%), Welsh Government (19%) and Natural Resources Wales (28%).

Please have a look at Come Outside! Headline Results and Key Learning and 12 case studies to find out what we achieved and learnt from over 3 years of delivery. The Executive Summary and full Evaluation Report and Appendices (produced by consultants Trilein Ltd and Shepherd and Moyes Ltd) provide more detailed information.

Addressing the challenge

Outdoor activity is proven to benefit mental and physical health, confidence, self-esteem and employability. However, 70% of people in Wales don’t do enough activity to fully gain these benefits. Although Wales offers lots of opportunities for outdoor activity, many people need specific support to enable them to overcome multiple barriers to accessing and benefitting from the outdoors.

Breaking down barriers

Come Outside!’s innovative approach was to match people’s interest and aspirations with exciting and memorable outdoor activities, enabling them to overcome personal barriers and to try out new ways of getting active.

Come Outside! enabled those who have the most to gain from outdoor activity, to get more active, and crucially to sustain their involvement, through:

Learning about nature, the night sky, local history and culture, and exploring on foot, by bike, paddling and using new technology
Developing outdoor skills in bushcraft, habitat improvement, angling, identifying wildlife, green woodworking, making music outdoors and photography, and developing the skills and confidence to lead others in these activities
Outdoor fun and games bringing communities and families closer together and closer to nature

How we worked

Come Outside! reached those with sedentary lifestyles, living in deprived areas, by targeting the support organisations who work with them, in the community, young people and health and social care sectors. The Come Outside! Co-ordinators inspired and motivated the support workers to join up with local outdoor providers and gave them the skills and confidence to use outdoor activities in local greenspaces, as part of their service provision.

To find out more

Have a look at the Programme Updates below, from May 2014 to November 2015
The Headline Results and Key Learning document below is a 2-page summary of the final Evaluation Report. Below is also the Executive Summary of the final report
12 case studies representing the breadth of the programme and the impact it made on organisations and individuals

To enable community groups and service providers to have the knowledge and skills to be responsible for themselves and their groups in low-level outdoor activity we have developed the Come Outside! Outdoor Activity Learning Programme. The programme is accredited with Agored Cymru.

To get in touch, please email: juliet.michael@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk