Outdoor Education Centres

Outdoor Activity and Activity HolidayThe AHOEC provides a complete list of all members which is ideal for those looking for an outdoor activity holiday. Membership of the association is widely regarded as a hallmark of ethical and quality management to reassure anyone looking for an outdoor activity holiday. For young people an outdoor activity holiday gives them a sense of achievement, fresh challenges and new friends. With an AHOEC outdoor activity holiday they will learn about risk and how to look after themselves and others in all sorts of ways. The centre heads forming the core of the membership are managing the longest established institutions and have a long tradition of safe practice in outdoor activity holiday centres.

AHOEC Manifesto Pledges

AHOEC welcomes the opportunity to pledge its full support for the ideals and aspirations of the Manifesto for Learning Outside the Classroom.

AHOEC has worked since 1963 to provide the seven actions required of signatories and is delighted to continue to do so within the context of this national initiative.

AHOEC members are particularly well placed to make a special contribution by providing high quality, challenging outdoor experiences, designed with course organisers to raise levels of achievement for all young people.

AHOEC members are committed to sustainable practices to ensure that the outdoor educational opportunities make a positive difference to all young people’s lives, now and for the generations to come.

Full pledge

Welcome to the Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres website.

The Association was formed in 1963, then known as ‘The Association of Wardens of Mountain Centres’. This was a period in which many Local Education Authorities started their own Centres along the lines of the successful Outward Bound Schools. Today these Centres are still thriving but the Association has moved on. Membership includes managers of multi activity Centres, sometimes in urban areas and Centres equipped for those with special needs. The aims of the Centres has changed little, that is to foster greater confidence and regard for others through a series of adventurous challenges requiring co-operation set in the outdoors.

The Association is affiliated to the National Association of Head Teachers, although membership of the NAHT is optional. It has representatives on the Governing Bodies of the main adventure sports and the key organisations concerned with outdoor education.

Membership of the Association is widely regarded as a hallmark of ethical and quality management, with all that implies for the quality of the provision managed. Full membership is open to those who are employed as Heads and Managers (including their deputies) of established centres and organisations where the primary function reflects the Mission, ethics and aims of the Association.

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