Families are selected to participate in Bide Oot by local Children 1^st hubs. These have different services and support needs vary, including addiction and recovery, financial difficulties and domestic violence. The primary criteria for selection is families are at a stage where they will be able to engage in the full project, including the residential.

The project was initially funded for three years with support from the STV Hunter Foundation, with the overall Children 1^st ambition ‘for every child in Scotland to be safe, loved and well with their family’ (About us - Children 1^st). There are also links with Scottish educational policy:

There is increasingly strong evidence that experiences in nature can boost academic learning, including in subject areas unrelated to the outdoor context…Further, the review also highlighted the benefits of time spent outdoors in terms of health and wellbeing, stress reduction, improved mental health and confidence of young people, all of which are known to support academic attainment.

Impact of Learning for Sustainability on educational outcomes: summary (2020)

Further, research suggests that time spent outdoors can have mental health benefits:

Having strong, healthy and supportive relationships with those around us is important for our wellbeing. Nature has a link with these relationships as we often use green spaces to meet and socialise with others (e.g. playing sports, having a picnic, going for a group walk). In fact, natural spaces can provide a free or low-cost opportunity to get together, and this is another way to support good mental health.

Thriving with nature (2020)

As the project has progressed, staff have realised that the discover / explore / conserve / share challenges of the John Muir Award (JMA) ties in well with the project aims and outcomes. Families from three Children 1st hubs have now completed the Family JMA and received certificates to mark their achievements.

Families from Aberdeen participated in activities provided by local agencies, delivered as part of the efter sessions organised by the Bide Oot team. By making links with organisations in their local community, the aim was for families to have the opportunity to build sustainable connections beyond the Bide Oot experience. Activities included exploring local green spaces and identifying flora and fauna and conservation by the removal of invasive tree species with local countryside rangers. Bird identification and bird box building was organised in the botanic garden with support from the Aberdeen Biodiversity Centre. The Marine Conservation Society helped families organise a beach clean.

A group from East Ayrshire are trialling a new approach. Discussing John Muir and the scope of the award formed a significant part of the afore sessions with families, and an award proposal was sent to the John Muir team in advance of the residential at Ardroy. They were very accommodating of the fact that families weren't yet ready to plan what they wanted to do on their return to their community and accepted a very open-ended plan.

At Ardroy, instructors enabled families to discover and explore the area through adventurous outdoor activities. Families were able to engage and enjoy the experience due to being away from the daily stresses of their everyday lives and having the opportunity to spend time in nature.

During the residential, families were invited to record their experiences in a floor book to create a keepsake and as a springboard for planning activity back in their local community. Afterwards, families reminisced about the residential, which promoted discussion of what activities we could do together in their local area. Through mutual discussion, it was agreed that we would use an orienteering activity to get to know a local area of greenspace.

This approach to the JMA has worked well for this group of families, but the methodology changes depending on the specific circumstances of each group.

One thing that is common to most, if not all, groups, is the importance of a completion event. Whether or not families have completed the JMA, making an occasion of the culmination of the project and sharing learning and changed perspectives has proved important and gives enhanced meaning to the experiences. This completion event also gives the opportunity to share what has been learned during the JMA with others.

The impact of the 'Bide Oot' project is measured primarily through feedback from participants. Information is gathered digitally using Plickers cards and informally through gathering comments on post-it notes during residentials. In general, participants report feeling more connected with their families, enjoying meeting and spending time with new people, appreciating having time away from their daily stresses, and pride in the activities they have completed. Feedback from the East Ayrshire families who completed the JMA include:

“Seeing my daughter interacting with other children and doing all the activities.”

“Great to see the adult involvement in the woodland games.”

“I’m proud I have managed to do things I never dreamed of.”

“It’s good to get family time again.”

Children 1^st hub staff also report developing strong insights into and better rapport with the families they participate in Bide Oot alongside due to the extended nature of the residential. The nature of their regular interactions with family members tend not to allow them to get to know families to the same extent as during Bide Oot.

“Love to watch all the families get time together and laughing.”

“Families trying new things together – and having fun.”

The intention is to have more hubs completing the JMA, using the positivity of the residential as an impetus for future community activity, and achieving some of the Award outcomes during the residential.

The main challenge so far has been engaging families to attend sufficient community activity after the residential to achieve a JMA. By beginning the award before and during the residential, families have sufficient time to achieve at least their JMA at Discovery level.

Some family members from Glasgow who participated in Bide Oot later attended JMA training organised by the Bide Oot team alongside hub staff and are now assisting in delivering John Muir activity to other families involved in the hub, outside of the Bide Oot project.

While enabling families to design their experience is a key aim of the project, we have come to realise that it can be difficult for families to plan activities when they are not fully aware of what is happening in their local area.

We have created a map of opportunities available in all the areas we work in which can be shared with families and local staff. The flexibility of the JMA and the John Muir Trust gives families the opportunity to influence how they complete the award once they have already begun it and started to learn about their local community.

Since writing this case study, the three year funding for Bide Oot has concluded.

Read an evaluation report of Bide Oot from Children First.

See a video about the Bide Oot project on YouTube.