£1000 BSES funding for the Channel Islands and North East

The Royal Geographical's Society affiliate charity, The British Schools Exploring Society, is offering young people in the Channel Islands and North-East £1000 towards expedition costs.

The British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) has been running expeditions to extreme locations for 16-23 year olds since the 1930s. Most expeditions run during the school summer holidays for three or five weeks, offering young people the opportunity to explore the Arctic wilderness, Himalayan mountains, Amazon rainforest, Oman desert or Namibia's savannah.

Older students have the opportunity of spending extended periods of time in the Arctic or desert, on longer gap-year projects, and can opt for specialist expeditions such as 'Arctic Skills' and 'Polar Nights'.

BSES expeditions are called 'adventures with a purpose', meaning that environmental responsibility and research are an integral part of all trips. From monitoring glacier retreat to collecting data on river dolphins and caiman populations, all BSES conservation research is published, presented and archived at The Royal Geographical Society.

In addition to ongoing research and contributions to the society, BSES gives young people first hand experience and direct interaction with some of the most pressing global concerns of the 21st century.

Anyone aged 16 or over can apply for a place on an expedition and learn about fund-raising techniques. With BSES's strong ethos that no-one should be excluded from opportunities, to assist students in the North East, £1000 funding in now available to each student to apply for on a first-come-first-served basis. Young people in the Channel islands are also eligible to apply for this funding, to assist with additional travel costs they will incur flying to the UK to embark on their adventures. For students based outside the North East and Channel Islands, significant support and grants are also available to assist young people in meeting their expedition costs.

Find out more by visiting www.bses.org.uk or contact lucy@bses.org.uk to ask for expedition details.

This article was also posted at www.responsibletravelnews.com

www.lucygrewcock.com

EU grant for Green Tourism in the Broads

Earlier this year, Green tourism projects in the Norfolk Broads received a 500, 000 Euro grant from the EU, made available by the STEP initiative (Sustainable Tourism in Estuary Parks).

This follows a success in 2006, when The Broads became the first English National Park to receive the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism, an award which has no doubt helped to attract funding.

The Broads will be working in partnership with the Biesbosch National Park in the Netherlands and the Schelde Estuary, Belgium, where yesterday (11^th May 2010), Ian Russell, Chairman of the Broads Tourism Forum attended the launch.

Ian said: “Funding of this type presents a range of wonderful opportunities to deliver new initiatives which will help Broads tourism businesses and improve the visitor experience. Programmes like STEP also create opportunities for the Broads Authority and the private sector to develop closer working relationships.”

Plans to use the funding include the launch of a new website (www.enjoythebroads.com), a visitor lead conservation fund, the promotion of a Green Tourism Business Scheme and an increase in waterway electricity charging points. The area between Ludham Bridge and How Hill has been selected specifically to receive a portion of the funding to put towards improving its tourism and information facilities.

Bruce Hanson, Broads Authority Head of Tourism said: “This funding gives us a tremendous opportunity to do many things that we have wanted to do for a long time but have not had the resources for. It provides a great boost for sustainable tourism in the Broads and we are particularly pleased to be working very closely with the Broads Tourism Forum to achieve our aims.”

Lucy's article was also posted by Responsible Travel

For further information, see:

http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news/press-releases/2010/european-funding-to-promote-green-tourism-on-the-broads.html