Get Outdoors Weekend 2014

The Challenge

To encourage as many people as possible in Northern Ireland to get active and get outdoors, by offering a wide range of free outdoor events across Northern Ireland over one weekend in September 2014.

The Role

To:

• Create the concept of the event
• Recruit and coordinate a range of partners who organise the individual events free-of-charge
• Secure funding and sponsorship from a range of sources to allow the event to be proactively promoted
• Deliver a multi-channel marketing campaign
• Create and manage the event website including on-line booking platform

The Results

• 84 events were recruited from supporting partners – primarily government organisations, local councils and outdoor activity providers
• 9,864 participants
• Funding secured from The Big Lottery, NIEA and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure – Inland Waterways
• In-kind sponsorship secured with ASDA, which ensured greater promotion of events at stores
• £142,700 equivalent advertising value worth of PR secured
• 95% of participants were either very satisfied or quite satisfied with the event they took part in
• 96% of participants stated they were more likely to take part in outdoor activities or take part in them more regularly as a result of the Get Outdoors Weekend
• 89% of event organisers were either very or quite satisfied with the participation levels of their event

Testimonial

“The Get Outdoors Weekend really helped to put Gortin Glen Forest, Omagh on the map!  By using it as one of the venues for the Get Outdoors Weekend we were able to showcase the true potential of Gortin Glen forest which, currently under-used, has so much capacity to be developed as a national tourism and outdoor recreation product.  The event also helped Council to achieve a number of its strategic priorities, including partnership working, providing outdoor physical activity opportunities, and highlighted what can be done with underutilised areas. It attracted almost 4,000 people across our sites in 2014, with many visitors travelling from outside the local area.  We were pleased to be a part of the Get Outdoors Weekend and found it to be of huge strategic value”. 

Conor McCrory, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council