Funding
Applications are now closed for the 2023/24 academic year. They will re-open again in May 2024. Any schools/nurseries that have submitted an application and have not heard if they have been successful or not will be notified in due course. If you have already submitted an application and this was not successful, your application will be carried forward to the next round of applications.
NIFSA have secured funding from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Mid-Ulster District Council, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Belfast City Council and Drumlin Wind Co-Operative to offer free training and accreditation for schools and nurseries, across Northern Ireland, to gain their official NIFSA Forest School status.
Funding is only available to organisations that are not qualified Forest Schools.
Lady Dufferin was NIFSA Patron until her untimely death in 2020. She was a remarkable Lady, passionate about the environment and reconnecting children with it. The Lady Dufferin Learning Without Walls Memorial Award wants to remember Lady Dufferin’s passion and generosity and inspire a new generation of outdoor learning in Northern Ireland.