Eastenders and Gavin & Stacey star Larry Lamb has given his support to a fundraising appeal by YHA (England & Wales).
YHA’s No Child Left Behind appeal aims to raise £1million to enable pupils from low income families to go on school residential trips to youth hostels in England and Wales.
Larry, who has donated to the No Child Left Behind campaign, said: “I have very fond memories as a boy of staying in youth hostels and being in places the like of which I had never set foot in before, and this has stayed with me all these years. It’s so important that all young people experience the wonderful environments in and around youth hostels.”
Originally launched in the wake of the Covid lockdowns, YHA has since reimagined its No Child Left Behind fundraising campaign in response to the increased cost of living crisis, which is seeing an increasing number of pupils unable to afford school trips. To date, more than two million young people have missed out on a residential school trip since 2020.
According to a 2023 *report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation one in four children in the UK now live in poverty (27%).
The No Child Left Behind fund provides bursaries to schools to help support pupils whose families are unable to afford the cost of a residential school trip to a youth hostel in England and Wales. Already, the fund has enabled hundreds of young people to participate in residential school trips they would have ordinarily been forced to miss out on.
Through donations to the No Child Left Behind fund, YHA wants to enable a minimum of 10,000 young people to have a residential school trip.
As part of his support, Larry Lamb visited YHA London Lee Valley and met with a group of Year 11 GCSE drama students from Bobby Moore Academy in Stratford, London, an area of high deprivation. A No Child Left Behind bursary funded a day stay at the youth hostel for the young people, many of whom had not been in a rural setting before.
Aaron Raynor, Head of Year and PE Teacher at Booby Moore Academy who accompanied the students on their visit, explained: “When we arrived at YHA London Lee Valley many of the students thought we were in the middle of nowhere; they had never seen so much green space or been in a woodland area before. They were overwhelmed.”
Residential school trips have proven positive outcomes for young people, enhancing their learning experience as well as helping them develop essential life skills and can be an excellent way of engaging hard to motivate students. In some cases, a residential school trip is the first time a child has stayed away from home, been in nature or been independent.
While £50 pays for a child from a low-income background to have a place on an overnight trip in a youth hostel, YHA is appealing to people to give what they can.
Larry added: “The No Child Left Behind campaign will enable YHA to continue to do the work they do to look after young people in the face of the cost of living crisis and I would urge people to donate.”
To donate to YHA’s No Child Left Behind campaign, visit yha.org.uk/child
