As part of our overall service, we like to help schools access funding to pay for our various products if indeed they need assistance in this respect. Hence the reason why we spend a lot of time researching what grants are currently available for educational establishments and what type of projects they will support. Once we have this information, we then point schools in the right direction. We also very much appreciate that school staff do not always have the time themselves to do this research so that is why we feel that this adds a certain value added benefit to our overall customer service.

We are presently finding that a lot of schools are having success in obtaining funding for what we call Post Covid Recovery projects. As has been widely promoted in the media, the school community – staff, pupils and parents – have been significantly affected by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. As well as affecting their education of course, lockdowns and social restrictions have taken a noticeable toll on children’s mental well-being and health. Projects that are helping promote and assist with these issues are therefore tending to attract the most money – this would include (but not limited to) the following:

• Any outdoor learning  – less chance of Covid transmission outside, easy to socially distance and an appreciation of the outdoors and nature
• Physical play – projects that promote fitness (healthy body equals healthy mind)
• Sensory gardens – calming and nurturing environments
• Sensory rooms
• Mindfulness areas including nurture rooms

At the Hideout House Company, we do offer quite a significant range of products which are complimentary to all of the above. We offer outdoor classrooms, fitness trails, enclosed outdoor classrooms.

For small nurture room groups, we also have a range of unique classroom pods.

Our sensory gardens can be a simple range of play panels and planters right up to fully landscaped garden design projects.

If you would therefore like to discuss how we can help your school access grant funding and our product range, then please give us a call on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

We are not just a supplier of quality outdoor classrooms and play equipment for schools as we are able to offer extensive ancillary advice and help in the following matters as well:

1. Funding – as well as compiling our own Funding Guide which lists important and useful information such as how to apply successfully for grants and other funding opportunities, we can also point you in the right direction of some specialist educational funding consultancies who should be able to help you in your quest for funding
2. Planning permission – with regards more so to the outdoor classrooms range, we can also advise your school about the issues of whether or not you will need planning permission (and building regs if applicable). If your project does require planning permission, we are able to provide scaled drawings which you will need for your planning submission.
3. Designs – we make play grounds come alive with the designs and layouts of the products we will have discussed with you. These drawings are free of charge and always put the project into more of a realistic perspective
4. Testimonials/referrals. If you wanted to undertake more due diligence before making a final decision as to which company to use for your playground project, we are able to put you in contact with some of our previous customers for a referral and in some cases, you might even be able to visit their school to see our work
5. General advice – it also goes without saying that based on 25 years of experience, our directors will be able to advise you on what could work best with your budget and aspirations/needs and alternatively, what will not work best!
6. A Network of Contractors – we have worked extensively over the years with other specialist contractors and have built up special trading relationships with them. So if your project does require something a bit out of the ordinary, we are usually able to help out in this regard

For more information on the Hideout House Company and if you would like to know more about the above, please do contact us for an exploratory chat on 01832 275902 or email us on info@hideouthouse.com

This is perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions from our customers when we are discussing build requirements for their outdoor classroom or undertaking a site visit. A lot depends on the site itself and a number of other mitigating factors – whether it is level, what type of existing surface the feature will be installed onto (eg grass/tarmac/concrete etc), and if the area is prone to flooding and rainwater retention etc

But in the majority of cases, we install a timber sub-frame levelling base as per below image. If the ground is not exactly level, we can get the floor to be so by setting the posts into the ground at different depths over the span of the area. With this system, we can typically cope with a fall of no more than 350mm over a 5m area. If the fall is greater than this, then some pre-excavation and levelling work will have to be done (by others) before we come to install on site. Below the timber sub-frame base is a geo textile membrane to stop the grass growing through.

Once this base is installed, we then build up the walls for the outdoor classroom and install the decking floor. So that you cannot see this once completed, we install a decking timber section as skirting around the base which also gives the building quite an appealing aesthetic feel to it. If there is indeed a fall over the area, then we compensate for this by adding extra decking panels around the skirt which our experienced joiners do on site as they are cut to size.

If the ground conditions are quite boggy and prone to flooding, then we have used a ground screw pile system in the past. These are essentially giant screws which get drilled and secured into the ground – without the need for laying any concrete – and onto which are fixed the timber bearers of our base. The outdoor classrooms then sits up off the ground and does not come into direct contact with any sitting water (see photo below of this system)

Last but not least, it is possible to lay a concrete base. Typically this is undertaken by local contractors as they tend to be way more competitive on price and if a school does opt for this, we are able to provide dimensional drawings.

For our comprehensive range of outdoor classrooms, please visit Hideout House Outdoor Classrooms

 or contact us on 01832 275902 and email: info@hideouthouse.com

The Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown which has accompanied it have brought various fundamental changes to our daily lives. Whether this may be limited contact with close family and friends, working from home or even being confined to the boundaries of our house and garden.

These changes have unfortunately had detrimental effects on the UK population and as we finally look to return to normality, there will be some significant changes to our lifestyles which we can expect.

There is no question that one of the biggest impacts which the national lockdown has highlighted is the effect on our mental health. In February 2021, 42% of the UK population felt anxious and stressed due to the pandemic. What is the reasoning for this? Humans are social beings who naturally like to be in the open, so once this social contact is stripped away from us and isolation comes into force, it is therefore with no surprise that these feelings of loneliness and anxiety come into play.

It does not have to be all doom and gloom though. There is one simple thing which can help us all in these hard and turbulent times. Nature. Nature is the theme this year for the mental health awareness week and how connecting with nature can help improve and bolster our mental well-being.

Studies conducted by the mental health foundation showed that 70% of adults in the UK said that being close to nature improved their mental health where going for walks outside was our top coping strategy in the national lockdown.

The mental struggles from the pandemic have affected the younger age group particularly hard where young people have reported consistently lower levels of coping mechanisms compared to those of the general population. In April 2020, figures reached as high as 64% of younger people struggling to cope mentally as a result of the pandemic and the restrictions which it bought with it.

The covid-19 pandemic has highlighted this importance of nature and the positive implications which it can have for all age groups but especially for those younger generations. Nature should not have to be a luxury but rather it should be a resource which is readily available to be enjoyed on a daily basis. In particular teenagers are failing to connect with nature where around 13% of UK households have no access to a garden.

That is exactly why having access to nature through education is, and will be continue to be, pivotal to the mental well-being of children and younger age groups by reducing stress and giving a new perspective to their lives.

Schools are already seeing the mental health benefits which nature can have with education and learning in outdoor spaces. St Mary’s school in Cambridge is leading the way with this movement where their Junior school students will have more lessons outdoors to be able to appreciate their natural surroundings during Mental Health Awareness Week.

At the Hideout House Company, we pride ourselves on sustainability and offering products to schools who are giving children access to an outdoor education from a variety of products which we are able to offer. These products typically involve forest school equipment and shelters, outdoor classrooms, nature exploration kits, fire pit shelters, den making kits etc

Nature is available all around us. So why not use such a powerful resource in your school which not only teaches about sustainability and gives a new perspective for children but also provides a platform to ensure good mental well-being and thereby reduce stress and anxiety in the young.

For further information on the Hideout House Company, please visit www.hideouthouse.com or email info@hideouthouse.com

For more information on Mental Health Awareness Week please visit Mental Health Awareness Week

During the pandemic, the concept of outdoor learning – or simply being outside – has certainly come to the fore as it promotes both mental and physical benefits to children. Plus, of course, the virus is less likely to spread outside than it is inside.

Outdoor learning however is not just a mirror replication of what happens inside the classroom, it is also about recognising and profiting from the multiple benefits of what being outside can offer. Now is the time to explore those areas of the school grounds which have previously not been used perhaps and don’t let the good old British weather put you off!

Every school will have a unique outdoor learning area or environment and sometimes it can be quite difficult to imagine what can be done with it in order to make it more challenging and exciting for the children to use and be engaged in. Teachers now need to think how they can incorporate nature-based learning into the curriculum.

And if funding is tight, you don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money. For example, we sold a lot of our outdoor cushions and free-standing woodland benches last year – just somewhere for children and teachers to sit and hold lessons or sessions outside. Or you could easily add a fire pit in the middle of this to add another dimension which could be all part of your forest school initiative.

But on a grander scale, we at the Hideout House Company offer perhaps the most comprehensive range of outdoor classrooms and shelters. Our product range takes in canopies, shelters, nature huts, outdoor classrooms in a open-sided gazebo style, fully enclosed outdoor classrooms which can be used all year round (and can be insulated if so required), unique “pods” in various sizes, outdoor rustic style cabins and special fire pit gazebos and shelters.

There are many options to choose from as well so no one outdoor classroom is really ever the same. We also offer a unique educational renewable energy system which both teaches children how green energy is created from the sun and wind but also allows them to use this energy to power up laptops, tablets, lights etc

And if money or budgets are tight, we are able to help out on funding options and advise of funding opportunities as well.

We can certainly help your school implement a very successful outdoor learning programme as we feel that although the pandemic will one day no longer be here, outdoor learning is here to stay!

For further information, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com