2020. What a year ... 

The pandemic threw our plans against the wall and then out the window. But Covid and its lockdowns made the importance of adventure in our lives clearer than ever. Connection to green space and blue space, and the freedom to explore these places, can help keep us stable during unstable times. 

We founded Adventure Uncovered on the belief that adventure can support positive change to people’s lives. Adventure big and small can bring connection to ourselves, each other and our environment. This connection drives change. 

As the 2020 Show finally drew to a close, we reflected on the core values guiding Adventure Uncovered through 2021. The dawn of 2021 is a chance to manifest these values through bold, ambitious, achievable and measurable goals. 

We present to you our six New Year’s Resolutions for 2021, with specific goals detailing how we plan to fulfil them. The resolutions are designed to draw our line in the sand, hold us to account in leading by example and hopefully inspire others to follow. 

At the moment we are a small (but dedicated!) team of four. This isn’t a disclaimer, but our values and goals are relative to our limited resources. And like everyone we sometimes fall short and make mistakes. But this by no means stops us trying. We will be reporting transparently on our progress - successes and failures - every quarter. 

Bring on 2021.

1. Break the mould.

We’re committing to changing the face of adventure, so that everybody ‘looking in’ feels welcomed, represented and thinks ‘I could do that - there is a place for me here.'

How will we do it?

• Ensure at least 20% of all published articles in 2021 on adventureuncovered.com are from the perspective of a person of colour and 40% from a female perspective.
• Ensure 20% of the films we show are from BAME or female directors or producers, and 50% of films show BAME or female adventurers.
• Develop at least five new partnerships with organisations bringing diversity to adventure. 

2. Build a more resilient, connected adventure community.

Now, perhaps more than ever, we need community. We need connection to each other and to our environment. We’re committing to being a consistent presence for you, our dedicated community. A place to share inspiring stories of adventure big and small, engage, challenge and meet and support each other in these strange times. 

How will we do it?

• Get our community adventuring outdoors together by taking at least 100 people on a cycling adventure of a lifetime and connecting a total of 1,000 people across our annual film festival tour.
• Return to our 2019/20 film festival locations and bring our film festival to two new locations and audiences across the UK.
• Prioritise a ‘local first’ approach and procure from local organisations and businesses for our film festivals and cycling trips.
• Throw a celebratory, adventurous get-together for our dedicated community at the end of the year - outdoors of course.
• Consistently publish our new Brake the Cycle monthly newsletter, and feature an inspiring member of the Adventure Uncovered and Brake the Cycle community in both newsletters.

3. Move from Awareness to Action.

"Raising awareness" only gets us so far. We need action. We’re committing to helping you, our community, join us in actively driving positive social change and a healthier relationship with our environment. 

How will we do it?

• Develop an Action page on our website: a hub for you to find organisations and opportunities to get involved in.  
• Start ‘Adventure Shoutouts’ that signpost exciting organisations and opportunities to get involved in, and celebrate and track these referrals.
• Partner with charities and activist groups using adventure as a way to create positive change through our film festival and events, and report publicly on funds raised.

4. Tread lighter than ever.

We inherently pay heed to our footprint. This year we want to do more. Simple. 

How will we do it?

• Run ‘zero waste, leave no trace’ film festivals.
• Ensure our Brake the Cycle trips are zero carbon.
• Report on the environmental impact of our cycling trips and festivals, including transport, energy, waste and food. 

5. Be radically transparent.

We are a small but principled team dead set on operating fairly and transparently and holding ourselves to account. We may get things wrong and miss the mark, but we are committing to radical business transparency to hold ourselves accountable.

How will we do it?

• Transparent financials: pay policy for volunteers, contributors and staff; insights into hours worked and revenue and profit results.
• Pay people contributing to Editions. We will commit £150 per Edition, to be split between contributors, and will soon be launching a Patreon on top of that! Our target is to reach a budget of at least £450 per Edition by the end of 2021.
• Report fully on our progress against all of these goals every quarter.

6. Throw the best party. Always have fun.

We’re committed to these five resolutions, and we’ll be reporting on them. But we risk sounding earnest and no one likes a bore. From our experience, the way to engage people to take action is to lead by example, have fun and throw the best party. Who wouldn’t want to be involved in that?

These resolutions are tied to our proposed 2021 resolutions for the adventure community. If you have any questions or queries about them just drop us an email at info@adventureuncovered.com. And if you know about a story showing relevant to one of those proposals, we’d love to hear about it, either as a tip or a pitch.