The Stoneleigh Project set out to support marginalised young adults
transform their lives and impact on the communities they lived in. The
main intervention was an unusual outdoor retreat combined with mentoring
and voluntary work. The unfolding context of youth in society and their
transition to adulthood is discussed. The emerging problems encountered
by young people 18 to 25 years old are reviewed. The research explores
the unusual retreat programme. The findings highlight the effectiveness
of this approach to experiential education for many but not all young
people. Only one of the partners in the project achieved the goal of
social transformation and the role of the adult youth workers in making
this possible is identified. The thesis also provides an in depth
analysis of the social context in which outdoor education has developed
in the UK over the last century.