Friends of Derwent Hill

About the Friends of Derwent Hill...

The Friends of Derwent Hill is a registered charity with the view to advancing the education and life skills of children and young people through outdoor education; in particular those who are in some way disadvantaged. We are also a voluntary organisation, which means that nearly every penny of our membership fees and fundraising goes to help these children.

We are closely aligned to the Derwent Hill Outdoor Education Centre and the Derwent Hill Training Centre - a Georgian House set in secluded gardens and woodland, which comprises two connected facilities, each offering high standards of accommodation and catering.

Owned and managed by Sunderland City Council, the centre has been offering top-quality training and education courses for over 40 years, with all profits reinvested to provide outdoor learning opportunities for children in Sunderland.

Derwent Hill provides purposeful, enjoyable and safe outdoor education for children and young people. It promotes personal and social development and environmental awareness, and enriches their learning. This helps them to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. Outcomes from a Derwent Hill experience contribute towards being healthy, staying safe, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution and achieving economic well-being.

Although run and managed by Sunderland City Council, the centre still has to make a charge to schools wishing to take advantage of the facility, which they in turn pass onto the children and young people. This has the drawback of potentially excluding some of the most disadvantaged and socially excluded pupils: essentially those who could most benefit from the experience.

The 'Friends of Derwent Hill' was set up as a charity in order to:

Obtain charitable status for fund raising activities, thereby maximising access to additional revenue streams
Place fundraising on a more formalised footing
Divorce the fund raising activities from the centre and the Council – again granting access to alternative funding
Build links between the community and Sunderland schools
Provide a focus for Derwent Hill’s alumni and others to channel their interest and support.

As such, an inaugural meeting was held on the 18th October 2007, in which a committee was elected.

Aims of 'Friends of Derwent Hill'

The overall aims of the 'Friends of Derwent Hill' as outlined in its constitution are:

To support Derwent Hill in providing outdoor education opportunities for children and young people
To raise monies
- to increase access to activities at Derwent Hill, particularly by disadvantaged children
  and young people
- to enhance the resources of Derwent Hill in
  order to enrich the educational experience of users
To foster links between Derwent Hill, schools and the wider community in order to provide more educational opportunities.