We're delighted that over £1.5 million is being invested into Ghyll Head ahead of summer.

Ghyll Head, Manchester City Council's, Outdoor Education Centre, based in the heart of the Lake District National Park is a fantastic location and environment to experience the great outdoors. We took over the management of the centre in April 2020.

The centre is currently undergoing an exciting £1.5 million refurbishment which will see a complete upgrade to the accommodation and facilities on offer.

You’ll soon find

• Modernisation of the main house to provide modern facilities
• Improved lighting and heating systems to support reduction in energy/costs
• New boilers, roof repairs, water heaters and LPG tanks
• Full redecoration inside and out
• New beds bedding, furniture and soft furnishings
• Brand new PODS, with a brand new toilet, shower and cooking cabin
• New community cabin for use as a flexible space
• Bunk house with toilet and shower
• Lighting and power to pathways and community spaces
• Replacement road barriers and repairs to walls
• Ground Maintenance to all areas
• New and improved safety boat fleet
• New equipment for school use such as outdoor wet weather wear
• New gardening equipment
• New external signage to main entrance of house and boat house

We're hoping to have these all compete by June 2021 and look forward to sharing more details with you soon!

In the meantime, here's a little taster of what we offer at Ghyll Head:

Our inspirational outdoor courses not only deliver one of the most memorable experiences of a young person’s life, they also boost the curriculum, key stage learning, and student development.

The outdoor learning staff are highly competent in the activities they instruct. Our experienced and trained instructors are skilled at finding the right pace and tone in working with a group and enabling students to be secure and safe with their outdoor experience.

Our friendly team of experienced qualified professionals ensure that everyone has a safe and fun, action-packed adventure, whether you book for a full week, a weekend or a day session.

Who do we cater for?

Schools, Academies and Youth Group Visits

Join us for a residential or day visit and we will use your learning objectives to plan a programme suited to your needs; giving you the opportunity to enrich your curriculum and link outdoor experiences to key stage learning and pupil development. Courses are fully accessible offering an exciting and valuable learning experience for all students.

Weekend stays suit a range of client groups from schools, youth clubs, community groups and even staff groups and your stay can be extended to Monday morning.

Experience the full outdoor education experience and join us for the full week (four nights or more). That way groups form good relationships and there are plenty of opportunities for pupils to develop and refine strategies and skills to improve performance. If a full week isn’t what you’re looking for, a split week might be; this means your organisation is with us for the whole week but during that time you escort two groups for either two or three nights each, a great option for any school group and suitable for younger pupils or those with additional needs.

Accessible for All Students

Ghyll Head is an IOL Adventure for All centre that is an inclusive and accessible provision serving a wide and varied range of students. Our bungalow is fully equipped with profiling bed, hoist, large wet room and open plan feel. Our main house ground floor is level access so that students can eat and have social time together. We have fabulous boathouse facilities on the lake, accessible sailing boats, canoes, hoist, changing room.

Students can abseil and zip wire with adapted equipment; and we have wheelchair-friendly trails around the grounds and provide three-wheeler rough riders and power chairs. Off- site we can explore the tunnels at Cathedral quarry or visit a real cave in Yorkshire. We have a “can do” attitude and we believe the only limit should be your imagination. We work with many special schools, youth organisations and charities, resourced provision schools and Pru Units and have run expeditions in Scotland and the Lakes with these groups.

Not just for kids

Team building really does challenge thinking and bring people together, building trust and improving team outcomes and performance. We work with adult groups using creative and challenging activities to support group development. Working together you will learn new skills, challenge behaviours, build friendships and explore alternative approaches.

Team-building is an important part of any staff development programme and engaging in interactive, fun and inclusive experiences is a great way to bring your team together. Informal and more formal classroom spaces are available, allowing you to make the most of your time with us between fun activities on land or lake.

We're very much looking forward to welcoming you all back to Ghyll Head very soon.