The Jack Petchey Educational Visit and Learning Experiences Grant

This blog highlights the importance of giving young people the chance to step outside their everyday surroundings and gain new experiences through trips and visits.

By James Burns, Grants Officer and Lead for the Educational Visits and Learning Experiences Grant Programme

Growing up, some of the moments that shaped me most came from school trips. I can still picture myself in Chester, dressed as a Roman and wandering along the old city walls. Experiences like that almost most certainly sparked my love for history and later inspired me to study it at university. Another year, we were lucky enough to see Macbeth performed live, and it completely transformed the way I understood the play. Even now, whenever I go to the theatre or musical, I feel that same feeling of possibility and seeing the world from a new perspective.

I think that experiences like these are so important for young people. Whether it’s standing in front of the intricately wrapped mummies in the London Museum, or tackling the high ropes on a residential trip, they make learning feel more real, engaging, and memorable. These experiences also help young people feel a sense of belonging in unfamiliar spaces. They break down barriers and build confidence to step into new environments, which is something that can have a lasting impact as well.

Making our grant more accessible for young people

I’m really pleased with the recent updates we’ve made to our Educational Visits and Learning Experiences Grant. At the heart of the Jack Petchey Foundation’s mission – and in line with Sir Jack’s vision – is supporting young people from London and Essex to have more opportunities beyond where they live. We really took this on board with some of the updates we made.

One of the most important changes has been moving away from our requirement that trips had to have a direct link to the education and the curriculum. When we’ve been out-and-about ourselves, visiting your organisations, we received some very useful feedback that some of our youth and sports groups didn’t realise this grant was for them as it was had the word ‘Educational’ in it. It was a useful ‘Eureka!’ moment, and we looked at our applications and realised quite a lot of youth and sports groups weren’t applying for the grants. Thank you so much for those useful conversations.

We also wanted to recognise that you don’t need to be studying The Lion King to gain huge value from seeing it live. Learning is also about personal development – building confidence, stepping outside comfort zones, and experiencing something new for the first time. That’s why we’ve updated the name of the grant to include Learning Experiences. This will hopefully support a wider range of trips and visits that schools and youth organisations already know can make a real difference.

Why SEND, PRU and Alternative Provisions can request a higher grant award

Our grant award of £20 per young person offer is standard across all organisations, to a maximum grant award of £1,200 (equivalent to 60 people going on the trip). However, we appreciate it can cost more to arrange trips for young people with additional needs. If you are a registered SEND, PRU or Alternative Provision, we may consider awarding up to £60 per young person or £100 for a residential, if you explain what additional costs you are facing to carry out the trip. For example, you may need to hire specialist transport, arrange for a sign-language interpreter, or pay for additional carers to attend a residential trip who would not usually be working with you, or to hire in a workshop for a smaller number of young people as your young people may face challenges in leaving your setting. However, if you won’t have additional costs and your application is approved, you will be offered our standard £20 grant award per young person. That makes it more fair to all settings so we’re not funding a bigger portion of a theatre ticket, for example, for any one group, over another. We hope that makes sense, but if you’re confused, please get in touch!

The difference these visits and experiences make

One of the best things about working on this grant has been hearing back from teachers and youth leaders about the ways trips have benefited young people. I love to hear stories of how some of the quietest young people suddenly light up after exploring somewhere new. It’s also exciting to know that sometimes this impact is less visible – visits can plant seeds of discovery and inspiration which develop over time.

Whilst this grant is a fantastic opportunity for schools and youth organisations to make use of, the trips themselves wouldn’t be possible without the amazing work of the adults who make them happen. I think every visit reflects a commitment to giving young people opportunities that stretch their thinking and build their confidence. It’s inspiring to see what happens when we can make it a little bit more affordable for groups to turn young people ideas, into real, meaningful experiences.

We hope with our new changes – particularly our updated Frequently Asked Questions and new flyer with loads of inspirational ideas for trips – you will realise this grant isn’t just for the benefit of schools. And we look forward to receiving your applications.