Raleigh International

[AlphaThree]

Has gone under :-(

I’m actually devastated. Best time of my life on expedition and made me who I am today really. Always wanted to go back and do another.
So very sad no other youngsters will get this life changing experience.

No AIBU - just want to raise a toast to a marvellous charity! Come tell me about your expeditions.

Anyone?

Oh no - that is such very sad news. So many young people's lives will be poorer from not having that opportunity.

I also went on an expedition - back when it was Operation Raleigh - and had the most incredible experience. The whole thing, from applying and going to a selection weekend, having to raise the money to go (as a shy and unconfident young person this was so tough for me), and then spending 3 months living and working with so many people from different backgrounds to me was life-changing in so many ways. I came from a very low-income family and it really opened my eyes to a whole new world of people and places that I didn't know existed. The experiences I had have shaped my life in every way since then, and I have always wanted to go back as a volunteer. I had a place sorted to do so many years ago but could not afford to take it up, and have always promised myself that one day I would do it, probably when I retire. I'm so sad that that won't be possible now. Raleigh will always have a very special place in my heart.

I applied in 1980s but was not accepted
Sorry to hear that the charity has ended

The Duke of Edinburghs award, was a winner for me as a young person instead

Ah, that's sad. I considered doing this as a teenager, but eventually went abroad with a different charity that offered a longer overseas experience instead. I know a lot of people who gained enormously from it though. It's a pity that kids won't have that option any more. I didn't realise that it was struggling...I wonder what went wrong.

I have no idea on the statistics, but without exception, everyone I knew who did Operation Raleigh had been to public school. And the fundraising didn’t seem to be a problem for them.

I went to a state comprehensive and seriously considered it. It wasn't the fundraising that put me off, I just found a different organisation that would send me abroad for a whole year. I still had to fundraise, and yes, it was bloody difficult without wealthy contacts! Managed it though!

A lot of the kids who participated in my programme were privately educated, and I suspect that was true of Operation Raleigh too. They did try quite hard to promote it to a wider audience though...I remember they came to my school to give a presentation.

That certainly wasn't the case when I went in the early 90s. In my group of 12, there was one person who'd been to public school, one to private and the rest of us were from state schools and low-income families. We'd all had to work pretty hard to be selected and to raise the funds to go. I think it changed a lot in later years and became much more of a 'gap-year' type activity and attracted those who could afford it.

Terrible message
Rich kids fundraise etc pay £3000 to paint a fence in Africa (that has been painted 6 time already this year- or demolishing newly built toilets to rebuild!)

That £3000 could have created a local job for a year and not promoted white saviour message.

A lot of young people did that from a homeless charity called The Amber Foundation. Homeless, drug alcohol gambling problems, and you'd go live in this house with others and have a routine and drug tests and they'd try and get you on track. They did Raleigh.

Rich kids

It isn't all rich kids.

I think they moved away from the white saviour message a long time back, didn't they? It was always marketed to me as an experience for the teenagers themselves, rather than about whatever random project they worked on in the destination country.

When I was fundraising for a similar experience 30+ years ago, we were specifically advised to make it all about the learning experience for ourselves rather than the "help" that we could potentially offer anyone else. After all, a bunch of unqualified 18 year old are hardly likely to be of much use to anyone! I remember them telling us to avoid sounding pious or pompous at all costs!