Outdoor fun and learning is good for you – FACT!
You don’t have to spend much time reading the news to know that young people are experiencing an alarming decline in mental health and wellbeing, with recent culprits ranging from Covid-19 lockdowns to the effects of social media. At the same time, public health services are under great strain and struggling to cope with the situation.
For the 2025 edition of Lightwaves, we invited Dr Roger Hopper, a friend of FACT and an expert in outdoor education, to share with us some of what he’s researched and established about the value of outdoor learning in the healthy development of children and young people.

Dr Roger Hopper is an Educational Developer at the University of Plymouth. He has worked in an outdoor context for over 30 years, and currently is a Lead Practitioner of the Institute for Outdoor Learning.
Outdoor learning plays a vital role in the healthy development of young people. I’m delighted to have the chance in these pages to explain why it is quite so vital, and together with the team here, to explain FACT’s special approach.
In 2023, the UK government’s Children and Young People’s Wellbeing report1 indicated a picture of increased anxiousness among primary- and secondary-age children, and loneliness and poor mental health among older young people.
The Office for National Statistics stated in 20242 that average ratings of adult personal wellbeing in the UK have declined across all measures in the year ending March 2023. NHS England stated3 that for 2022/23 admissions due to obesity were up 13% on the previous year.
For over 50 years Fellowship Afloat has been sharing its unique Christian community experience with thousands of people of all ages, needs and backgrounds. And they continue to provide the professionally-led outdoor experiences that are known to have a positive effect on people’s health, wellbeing, and self-development (IOL, 2024a4, 2024b5). You can read some of the academic research that provides validation for this using the references at the end of the page.
I’ve taken the opportunity to build on these and to create a ‘Model of Change’ which encapsulates some of the ways in which a stay at Fellowship Afloat can improve the health and wellbeing of young people.
To do so, I’ve combined the NHS’s 5 Steps to Mental Wellbeing6, with the six areas of focus from the Institute for Outdoor Learning’s National Outdoor Learning Award7, and placed at the centre FACT’s foundational spiritual priority.

Fellowship Afloat’s outdoor learning, health and wellbeing model of change
The six areas of focus that support and improve health and wellbeing are shown around the edge of the wheel. These are detailed below together with outline examples of how FACT enables this.
Connection
Connecting with other people (staff, peers, teachers etc) builds a sense of belonging and self-worth. It gives opportunities to share the positive experiences of the day during meals and provides emotional support to cope with challenges.
Activities
Being physically active, sailing, climbing, walking and more, is great for physical fitness and health. Furthermore, overcoming adventurous challenges also raises self-esteem and causes chemical changes in the brain to positively change mood.
Discovery
By encouraging guests to be curious and ask questions they discover new knowledge and skills that boost self-confidence and raise self-esteem. It also helps people build a sense of purpose about themselves, other people, and the world we live in.
Giving
Acts of giving and kindness (laying tables, helping put buoyancy aids on, saying thank you etc) create positive feelings and a sense of reward. This creates purpose (I am needed), self-worth and helps connection with others.
Noticing
Paying attention to the present moment (thoughts and emotions associated with the activities, the sea, wind, smells of the salt marsh) helps with enjoyment of life. It can help change the way people think and feel about life and how to approach challenges with a refreshed perspective.
Healthy
Being physically active in an outdoor setting, sitting and eating regular community meals, and routine with rest all contribute to improving health. New aspirations and habits (such as discovering new foods or activities) can be formed that then impact future lifestyles.
The six areas are interlinked with areas that form the basis of the National Outdoor Learning Award (NOLA), each represented by the spokes of the wheel and the spaces between. These are:
Safe
People have the right to be safe and the associated responsibility to keep themselves (self) and others safe and use the environment in a safe way.
Learn
People have the right to learn and the associated responsibility to learn about themselves, others, and the environment.
Respect
People have the right to be respected and the associated responsibility to respect themselves, others, and the environment.
At the centre
The centre and pivot for all the above is FACT’s desire to share the Good News of Jesus, first and foremost by the quality of its community. And then through words: much of the time this develops by inviting people to view the world around them with a new wonder and thankfulness, and the people around them with a new interest and kindness. Next is perhaps to ask people to look again at the assumptions of our secular society and what of true value might be missing from it. Then sensitively to share the vision of an all-loving God expressed in Jesus.
It is the combination of all these elements of the model that creates the unique experience at Fellowship Afloat. (It should be noted here that FACT’s work does not serve clinical needs, where professional psychological therapists provide socially prescribed interventions. (IOL, 2024a4))
On top of all the research work I’ve referred to, decades of feedback from visiting individuals, schools, youth and adult groups (FACT, 20248) testify to the transformational effect of a stay at Fellowship Afloat.
At the beginning of 2025, I know the FACT team are looking forward, with great anticipation, to welcoming many more guests aboard to encourage everyone into a life full of adventure, health and wellbeing.
References
- GOV.UK (2023) State of the nation 2022: children and young people’s wellbeing.
Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2022-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing#:~:text=This%20report%20collates%20and%20analyses
(Accessed: 26 September 2024). - Office for National Statistics (2024) UK Measure of National Well-being: May 2024.
Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/ukmeasuresofnationalwellbeingmay2024
(Accessed: 25 September 2024). - NHS England (2024a) Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet, England 2021.
Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-obesity-physical-activity-and-diet/england-2021
(Accessed: 25 September 2024). - Institute for Outdoor Learning (2024a) Outdoor Mental Health and Outdoor Therapy.
Available at: https://www.outdoor-learning.org/standards/collective-knowledge/outdoor-mental-health-outdoor-therapy.html#:~:text=Learn%20about%20the%20benefits%20and%20practices
(Accessed: 25 September 2024). - Institute for Outdoor Learning (2024b) High Quality Outdoor Learning 2024.
Available at: https://outdoor-learning.org/standards/high-quality-outdoor-learning-2024.html
(Accessed: 25 September 2024). - NHS England (2024b) 5 Steps to Mental Wellbeing.
Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing/#:~:text=Learn%20how%20to%20connect,%20be%20active,%20learn
(Accessed: 25 September 2024). - Institute for Outdoor Learning (2024c) National Outdoor Learning Award.
Available at: https://www.outdoor-learning.org/standards/iol-awards-and-accreditation/national-outdoor-learning-award.html#:~:text=NOLA%20is%20a%20free%20scheme%20that%20recognises
(Accessed: 25 September 2024). - F.A.C.T. (2024) Recovering Together.
Available at: https://www.fact.org.uk/recovering-together
(Accessed: 26 September 2024).