Our core programme areas:
SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
BLUE SPACE therapy
Youth Ocean Summit
SUP CLUB
We are flexible and each year we try new projects and work with different partners while keeping our foundation of the 4 programme areas.
SCHOOLS PROGRAMME
Our Schools Programme works with the same pupils over two to three years, so each step builds on the last. Pupils start close to home, with stand-up paddleboarding sessions paired with environmental workshops. As they move up the school, they progress to a surf residential in Devon, with two or three days on the beach surfing along with ocean-related workshops, and evenings round the campfire.
We work with primary and secondary schools across London, including Tower Hamlets, Newham, Redbridge, Lewisham, Croydon, and we’re always keen to hear from new schools wherever they are.
GET OUT provides everything: qualified instructors, all equipment, safeguarding and, on residentials, accommodation. We plan each programme with the school, so it fits around the needs of the pupils.
We work with all kinds of schools and keep our programme affordable for state schools and pupils eligible for pupil premium. Get in touch to talk about what would work for your school and to request a brochure. We also run one-off paddleboarding or surf days for schools that want to get an introduction to blue spaces.
BLUE SPACE THERAPY
More and more young people are struggling with anxiety, low mood and low confidence, and many of those growing up in East London have little chance to spend time in nature. One in five children in England now has a probable mental health problem, and the wait for support can be long. We believe time on the water can help, and the evidence increasingly agrees.
Blue Space Therapy is a small-group programme for young people who are finding things hard. Most are referred to us by their schools. Over a block of paddleboarding sessions on London’s waters, including Fairlop Waters in Redbridge, young people learn to balance, take small risks and trust the people around them. Each session ends with time to reflect on how they felt and what they noticed, and the programme can include a surf day on the coast.
Change often starts quietly. A young person who arrives withdrawn and nervous steadies themselves on the board, their breathing slows, and by the end of the session they are encouraging someone else. In our 2025 evaluation, 85% of participants said their mood improved after time on the water.
We measure what changes, carefully. Working with our Research and Evaluation Advisor, Dr Kizzy Beaumont, we ask young people, their parents and their school staff before the programme, at the end, and again several weeks later, so we can see whether the benefits last. Everything is free to the young people taking part, including equipment, instruction and support from our team.
YOUTH OCEAN SUMMIT
The Youth Ocean Summit is GET OUT’s annual residential in North Devon, where young people from East London spend a long weekend surfing, exploring the coast and talking about what nature means to them. It is the part of our work where young people lead. What they tell us shapes what we do next.
We ran our first Summit in September 2024 and since then it has grown into a fixture of our year. In 2025, 28 young people told us that what stopped them from connecting with nature was simple: there was nothing near home they could do regularly. That feedback led directly to our monthly SUP Club in 2026. This year’s Summit, Ocean Protectors, brought together another 28 young people, who filmed their own short film about why the ocean matters to them and what they want to change.
Summit mission and objectives
We want young people to take part in a meaningful way, not just turn up and listen. That means giving them the time, space and support to turn their ideas into something real. The Summit has three aims:
Increasing access. Giving young people from disadvantaged urban communities the chance to spend real time by the sea, often for the first time.
Improving wellbeing. Using surfing and time in nature to build confidence, calm and a sense of belonging.
Inspiring future leaders. Helping young people find their voice on the environment, and making sure that voice influences GET OUT and the people around them.
SUP CLUB -
Stand Up Paddleboarding in east london
SUP Club is GET OUT’s monthly paddleboarding club, and it started because young people asked for it. At our 2025 Youth Ocean Summit they told us they wanted something close to home they could do regularly, so in 2026 we launched SUP Club on the River Lea with the Leaside Trust.
Young people come back month after month, building their confidence on the water and getting to know the river itself. Alongside paddling, they spot wildlife, take part in simple citizen science and film what they see on GoPros.
That filming will be used for Sick River, a film made by our young paddlers about the state of the river on their doorstep and what it would take to make it clean enough to enjoy. It’s due for release in early 2027.
In 2027 SUP Club moves to Fairlop Waters in Redbridge, again because young people and parents told us what would work better.