Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...

organisations that was founded in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of

Kurt Hahn Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn (5 June 1886 – 14 December 1974) was a German educator. He was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the U ...

. Today there are organisations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are attended by more than 150,000 people each year. Outward Bound International is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

membership and licensing organisation for the international network of Outward Bound schools. The Outward Bound Trust is an educational

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

established in 1946 to operate the schools in the United Kingdom. Separate organisations operate the schools in each of the other countries in which Outward Bound operates. Outward Bound helped to shape the U.S.

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

and numerous other outdoor adventure programs. Its aim is to foster the

personal growth Personal development or self-improvement consists of activities that develops a person's capabilities and potential, enhance quality of life, and facilitate the realization of dreams and aspirations. Personal development may take place over the c ...

and

social skills A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socia ...

of participants by using challenging expeditions in the outdoors.

History

Founding and early history

The first Outward Bound school was opened in

Aberdyfi Aberdyfi (), also known as Aberdovey ( ), is a village and community in Gwynedd, Wales, located on the northern side of the estuary of the River Dyfi. The population of the community was 878 at the 2011 census. The electoral ward had a larger ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1941 by Lawrence Holt with financial support from the Blue Funnel Line shipping company based on the initiative of

.Outward Bound International (2004).
Birth of Outward Bound
''. Retrieved 9 December 2007. The name Outward Bound was derived from the nautical term for a ship leaving safe harbour for the open sea. Outward Bound grew out of Hahn's work in the development of the

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational Private school (United Kingdom), private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip, Duke of Ed ...

school and what is now known as the

Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

. Outward Bound's founding mission, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was to improve the survival chances of young seamen should their ships be torpedoed in the mid-Atlantic. James Martin Hogan served as warden for the first year of the school.'. Retrieved 29 August 2008. This mission was established and then expanded by Capt. J. F. "Freddy" Fuller who took over the leadership of the Aberdyfi school in 1942 and served the Outward Bound movement as senior warden until 1971. Fuller had been seconded from the Blue Funnel Line following wartime experience during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

of surviving two successive torpedo attacks and commanding an open lifeboat in the Atlantic Ocean for thirty-five days without losing a single member of the crew. An educational

, named The Outward Bound Trust, was established in 1946 to operate the school. A second school followed in England at Eskdale Green in 1950. The first Outward Bound program for women was held in 1951. During the next decade, several other schools opened around the United Kingdom. A school in Lumut, Malaysia opened in 1954, the first outside the United Kingdom. Outward Bound Australia was founded in 1956. The first Outward Bound USA course was run in Puerto Rico in 1961 for the

, which it helped to shape.

Outward Bound New Zealand Outward Bound New Zealand (OBNZ) is a non-profit organisation providing experiential education in New Zealand. Its stated goal is to help participants reach their potential "through challenge in the outdoors". In total, more than fifty thousand ...

was founded in 1962, Outward Bound Singapore established in 1967 and Outward Bound Hong Kong in 1970. Outward Bound Costa Rica was founded in 1991. Outward Bound Peacebuilding was formed in the early 2000's working to leverage and link ideas related to peacebuilding and experiential education. From the inception of Outward Bound, community service was an integral part of the program, especially in the areas of sea and mountain rescues and this remains an important part of the training for both staff and students. During the period 1941 to 1965 in the United Kingdom, the philosophy of the schools evolved from "character‐training" to "personal growth" and "self‐discovery". Aberdyfi remains the organisation's "nerve-centre" in the United Kingdom. Over the course of a summer in 2010, 7000 to 8,000 students attended courses at the Aberdyfi centre and more than a million young people have attended Outward Bound courses in the UK since 1941.

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

served as the

Patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the Outward Bound Trust for several years before handing over to his son

Prince Andrew Prince Andrew, Duke of York (Andrew Albert Christian Edward; born 19 February 1960) is a member of the British royal family. He is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a younger broth ...

, who resigned in November 2019.

Current

Outward Bound International was founded as a

non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

in 2004 to license the use of the brand name "Outward Bound" and to provide support for the international network of schools. Today there are organisations, called schools, in more than 35 countries with 250 wilderness and urban locations around the world which are attended by more than 250,000 students each year. Separate organisations operate the schools in each of the countries in which Outward Bound operates. In 2025 Outward Bound has licensees operating 37 schools in 34 countries across 6 continents. Since its founding in the middle of the last century, Outward Bound has encouraged individuals to test their physical and emotional limits in challenging outdoor adventure programs. The experiences are a means of building inner strength and a heightened awareness of human interdependence.Outward Bound USA: Crew not Passengers, Josh Miner and Joe Boldt (Seattle: The Mountaineer Books, 2002) Outward Bound's

compass rose A compass rose or compass star, sometimes called a wind rose or rose of the winds, is a polar coordinates, polar diagram displaying the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their points of the compass, inter ...

emblem serves as the logo for almost all the schools around the world.

Blue Peter nautical flag

The name Outward Bound derives from a nautical expression that refers to the moment a

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

leaves the harbour. This is signified by Outward Bound's use of the nautical flag, the

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

(a white square inside a blue square). JF Fuller adapted the Outward Bound motto, "To Serve, To Strive and not To Yield," from the poem " Ulysses" by

Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

: ... Come, my friends. Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are -- One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Course specifics

Outward Bound courses follow a kind of recipe or formula, termed the ''Outward Bound Process Model'' which is well described by Walsh and Golins (1976) as:Walsh, V., & Golins, G. L. (1976).
The exploration of the Outward Bound process
'. Denver, CO: Colorado Outward Bound School. # Taking a ready, motivated learner # into a prescribed, unfamiliar physical environment, # along with a small group of people # who are faced with a series of incremental, inter-related problem-solving tasks # which creates in the individual a state of dissonance requiring adaptive coping and # leads to a sense of mastery or competence when equilibrium is managed. # The cumulative effect of these experiences leads to a reorganisation of the self-conceptions and information the learner holds about him/herself. # The learner will then continue to be positively oriented to further learning and development experiences (transfer). In a typical class, participants are divided into small patrols (or groups) under the guidance of one or more instructors. The first few days, often at a base camp, are spent training for the

activities that the course will contain and in the philosophy of Outward Bound. After initial confidence-building challenges, the group heads off on an expedition. As the group develops the capacity to do so, the instructors ask the group to make its own decisions.

References

External links

The Outward Bound Trust
official website for the United Kingdom. *{{official website, Outward Bound International Educational charities based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Highland (council area) Outdoor education organizations 1941 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1941 Physical education in the United Kingdom