Albany’s Outdoors Great Southern receives $30,000 in State Government funding for student expeditions

Local organisation Outdoors Great Southern has received funding to continue an expedition program for high school students in the latest round of State Government funding. Outdoors Great Southern was awarded $30,000 from the Outdoor Active Recreation Participation Grants Program, which has supported 20 projects across the State. The Albany-based organisation will put the funding towards running Expedition Great Southern, an extra-curricular program that takes Year 9 and 10 students into the great outdoors. The program takes a maximum of 20 students on a multi-day expedition during school holidays each term and includes before-and-after expedition sessions. Outdoors Great Southern chief executive Simon Webb said the expedition program introduced youth to “the natural environment in their own backyards” and helped them develop “lifelong, transferable skills”. “The program is designed to introduce aspects of the outdoors such as environmental awareness, navigation, risk and emergency management, along with technical skill in a variety of outdoor pursuits,” Mr Webb said. “Active participation in outdoor recreation and outdoor education is one of our prime objectives here at Outdoors Great Southern and we very much look forward to delivering another successful program.” The funding is set to go towards the overall program costs, including instructors, equipment hire and travel expenses. Albany MLA Rebecca Stephens said the grant would allow young people to experience “some of WA’s best outdoor assets”. “This grant to get young teens involved in outdoor activities such as camping, mountain biking, bushwalking and kayaking will further build the diverse range of outdoor activities and opportunities in our local area,” Ms Stephens said. “I’m really pleased to see how Outdoors Great Southern has expanded its activities for target groups in the region and this program in particular is promising as it provides more activities for an age group that currently has few out-of-school outdoor activity programs.”