Born on an estate.
Built by a community.

The Outside Club started with a simple belief: every young person deserves a place where they belong.

The Outside Club with TRA and Mayor

How it started

Pategill, 2022.

There wasn't enough youth provision in Penrith. The play park on the Pategill estate had been closed for 2 years and the young people on the Pategill estate didn't have a safe place to play or hang out. This went hand in hand with high reports of anti-social behaviour.

So, with Stomping Ground CIC and Gemma Webb we started a free weekly youth club. Combing forest school and open access Youth Work, the Outside Club was born. Outside. On the estate. For whoever turned up. No referral forms. No membership fees. Just trusted adults, some snacks, and whatever the young people wanted to do that week.

Meet the team →

What happened next

We grew with the community.

In that first year, thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund, we worked with 40+ children and young people. 70% of them were regular attenders

We played torchlight tag on dark winter evenings. We made paints from natural materials. We swung on the goalposts. We shared snacks and chatted about life, week after week.

It wasn't complicated. It was consistent. And it worked.

250+
Young people reached over three and a half years
86%
Drop in reported anti-social behaviour on the estate
40+
Young people choosing to turn up every single week

But the number that matters most? Over 40 young people choosing to turn up every single week. Not because anyone told them to. Because they want to be there.

Growing

From one estate to something bigger.

We've since expanded into Carlisle, running weekly sessions at Hammond's Pond in partnership with The Rock Youth Project and Barnardo's Co-op Partnership, together bringing food and activities to more young people who need a space that's theirs. Within three months of starting this project, rates of anti-social behaviour had reduced by 23.1%.

We are now recruiting to start working in Petteril and Raffles, delivering 100% detached youth work. Loosing the equipment to focus on being non-judgemental adults for young people where they spend their time most.

Show up, listen, let them lead.
Help us reach more →
The Outside Club growing across Cumbria
Registered charity

In December 2025, we became a charity.

The Outside Club is now a registered charity: The Outside Club CIO. It means we can build something that sustains and scales, reaching more young people in more communities without ever losing the thing that makes it work.

Turning up, every week, for as long as we are needed.

Young people at an Outside Club session

What we believe

We believe nature connection starts at home.

Not just a one off trip to a national park. On the block where young people already live. In the green spaces they walk past every day. With the people they already know.

That's where it starts. And that's where we'll keep showing up.

Join us →

This story is still being written.

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