Ufton is a thriving and innovative children’s charity based in a Tudor manor house and log cabins in the woodland at Ufton Nervet. We work in two main areas of education: Ufton History and Ufton Adventure, with children visiting for both day and residential visits.
Ufton History supports the primary school curriculum and last year we welcomed over 10,500 children to study how life was lived from the Stone Age to the Tudors and on to WW2.
Through our Ufton Adventure charity programmes, we welcomed 1,500 children for repeated visits who are underachieving against aged related expectations. The aim is to raise both their aspirations and attainment.
Ufton History and Ufton Adventure are taught by our highly skilled teaching staff who are supported by the rest of our dedicated team. Working together, the Ufton team ensures that children are at the heart of everything we do.
Our work is supported through Ufton Weddings and also from donations and fundraising events.
This year we launched our Ufton Cycle Sportive which starts and ends at Englefield House. Over 160 cyclists joined us for either a 25- or 55-mile route through the beautiful Berkshire countryside. Englefield School kindly allowed us to create an event village in their grounds where we offered live music and hot food for the tired but successful cyclists to rest after completing the cycle challenge.
The event raised £8,000 for the Viking Longhouse, and we are planning for this to become an annual event.
Ufton Adventure desperately needs a new teaching space, particularly in wet weather and during the evenings. Teachers are asking us to deliver high impact outdoor education to vulnerable pupils in greater numbers than ever before and we do not have an outdoor classroom big enough. Ufton Adventure groups currently have one communal space, the kitchen cabin, which is too small and too multi-functional.
We have planning permission to build a Viking Longhouse in our woodland. In total it will cost approximately £790,000 to build the structure and to decorate and equip the building with essential items. We have so far raised £503,000 through a mixture of grant applications, fundraising events, and revenue raised from Ufton Court’s wedding business. We are confident we will raise the remaining funds through the exciting fundraising initiatives we have planned and with the help of grants from further charitable trusts.
We work closely with the Englefield Estate team and have greatly benefitted from their advice and guidance in many areas. Our work to raise the aspirations and attainment of disadvantaged children at Ufton Adventure would not be possible without the generous support from the Estate and all our donors.
For more information on Ufton Court or to get involved with our fundraising please contact fundraising@uftoncourt.co.uk.
Writer: Fiona Craig, Managing Director Ufton Court