About Love Outdoors CIC

Love Outdoors CIC is a social enterprise, so we invest our profits in to projects that help to get more people and communities outside. Ultimately, we want to help more people to benefit from being outdoors to improve their mental and physical health and reduce social isolation, whilst forming stronger community connections.

One of our projects is this website- by providing free information on places to visit, outdoor activities and events, alongside our aim for it to be a place where local outdoor businesses can advertise their services, we hope to inspire you to get outside more to explore, connect with your community and enjoy the outdoors.

The making of Love Outdoors

Love Outdoors CIC originally started as a social media community campaign, but in October 2020 during lockdown, founder Emma decided there was merit in turning Love Outdoors in to a social enterprise. Emma successfully joined the School of Social Entrepreneurs programme, sponsored by Lloyds and coordinated by Action Hampshire and in May 2021 the fledgling social enterprise Love Outdoors CIC was born. Receiving two funding grants was the catalyst to pursue Love Outdoors CIC full-time from April 2022.

In order to gain additional skills and push Love Outdoors CIC forward Emma joined the Ingenuity programme, run by the University of Nottingham in 2022, which seeks to drive social mobility and tackle the UK’s major social and environmental challenges through the creation of innovative start ups. Emma had exposure to some change makers and senior leaders in business and after successfully writing a business plan and pitching, Emma made it through to the Regionals and then the National Finals. Love Outdoors was crowned the 2022 Ingenuity Programme Climate Champion as well as the South Coast Champion. Alongside local and national exposure, Emma has benefited from mentoring from Nuffield Health and legal advice from Shakespeare Martineau. Love Outdoors CIC has also received prize money to really help to kickstart Love Outdoors CIC.

Our story

Emma has always had a love for the outdoors. As a child growing up in London, weekend walks are a fond memory, even if they were not always so at the time. These early experiences instilled a love for getting outside, and outdoor activities like collecting conkers, rock pooling when visiting the beach, running up and down hills, and having a hot chocolate at the ‘cafe on the hill.’ Fast forward to adulthood, and having been through some pretty difficult circumstances, the outdoors is always where Emma goes to get some perspective and space. Now living on the Hampshire coast with a young family, who all enjoy what the area has to offer especially the countryside, parks, beaches and water, Emma wanted to share this love with others to ensure everyone enjoys spending time outdoors and loves where they live.

However, not everyone has fair access to the outdoors, whether that be due to where people live, costs, health conditions, previous experiences, lack of opportunities or simply not knowing where to go. Love Outdoors exists to breakdown barriers to ensure that everyone feels able to access the outdoors. Spending time outside, even just 10 minutes is proven to be beneficial to our health. Creating connections with our community, keeping active and being more present in nature are all great for our mental and physical health, and to reduce social isolation.

If you are keen to get outside but there is something stopping you then please get in touch. We always want to hear from our community to help make getting outside the best possible experience. We are always striving to create more opportunities and get involved in more projects that benefit those that need it most. You can find out more on our Projects page.

We wish you all the happiest of outdoor adventures.

Emma x