Ideas into action
They learn that a good idea only becomes successful when it is planned, promoted and followed through.
FOR THE PARENTS BEHIND THE EDVENTURIST
Don’t just fund the trip. Help them become an EdVenturist.
Whether they are working towards a school trip, DofE, Scout expedition or adventure abroad, your teenager is about to take on an experience that could change how they see the world. Their EdVenturist journey can change how they see themselves. Ways2Raise gives your family the plan, tools and support to make both happen.
Start the EdVenturist journey together
✦ Free to use. No card. No subscription.
MAYA’S EDVENTURIST JOURNEY
The family launch plan
WEEK 1
THE BIG GOAL£3,500 expedition targetTurned into manageable weekly steps
First EdVentureSaturday car wash
Parent roleEncourage, check in, celebrate
✓ Next together: choose a First £500 EdVenture
This is about so much more than a trip
An adventure abroad is brilliant. What they learn getting there is priceless.
When the trip cost first lands, it can feel as though the responsibility has landed with you too. It is tempting to quietly worry, pay what you can and hope the rest somehow works itself out.
But this is their opportunity to discover that a big goal can be broken down, planned for and reached through their own ideas and determination. Your role is not to fund the whole mountain. It is to help them learn how to climb it.
Ways2Raise exists so family finances do not determine the size of a young person’s ambition. We give families free access to the knowledge, tools and confidence needed to work towards a big goal. We never handle, or take a percentage of, the money a young person raises.
20+ years
Ways2Raise is built on more than two decades of helping over 10,000 young people and their families fund life-changing expeditions with major youth-travel and adventure organisations.
A calmer first milestone
When the full cost feels frightening, start with Your First £500.
For many families, the first figure they see is the deposit needed to secure a place, followed by a total that can feel daunting before the journey has even begun. Your First £500 helps your teenager look beyond that first worry and focus on ten free-to-start EdVentures they can genuinely try.
The first £500 is often the first real proof that an EdVenture can work. It is where a young person learns how to turn an idea into action, what works for them and how to keep going when something takes effort. Reaching it gives them the confidence to believe that the next £500 can be possible too.
This is not a promise about the final total. It is a real chance for your teenager to try properly, use practical guidance and discover what they can do. That knowledge can be more reassuring than simply wondering whether the full figure is possible.
What they will take with them
They are not just working towards a trip. They are building their future self.
The very things a young person needs to raise money for a big adventure are the things that help them far beyond it—at sixth form, university, their first job and any business they choose to build later.
The confidence to ask
They practise speaking to customers, supporters and local businesses with purpose and confidence.
Promotion that works
They discover how a clear message, a great poster and a well-timed social post can bring people in.
Money management
They understand the difference between money taken, money spent and the true profit left for the trip.
Resilience and reset
They learn that a quiet event or a “no” is not failure—it is useful information for the next better idea.
A habit for life
They leave with practical experience of earning, budgeting, reinvesting and paying their own way forward.
The Ways2Raise method
We make a big target feel possible, practical and personal.
Not a list of random ideas and a wish of good luck. A parent-supported EdVenturist programme that gives your teenager a next useful move and gives you the reassurance that they have a plan.
Complete The Set Up
We turn the expedition total into a clear weekly goal and build their own EdVenturist plan.
Choose My 10 EdVentures
They use the EdVenture Library, guides and tools to pick ideas that suit their skills, confidence and time.
Keep Business Progress honest
Their first-name-only webpage, Business Progress and calendar turn effort into momentum and show every step forward.
Keep learning together
When motivation dips, the toolkit, skills lab and parent support give the family a clear next move.
Their EdVenturist headquarters
Everything they need to keep learning. Nothing left to figure out alone.
Ways2Raise is their headquarters for the whole fundraising journey. It is there on the day they are buzzing with a new idea, and on the day they need a quick win to get their confidence back.
EdVenture Library
Ideas chosen around who they are, what they enjoy and what they can realistically do.
How-to Guides
Practical steps that turn an idea into an event, a sale, a service or a proper little business.
Business Toolkit
Posters, sponsorship materials, plans, trackers and downloads ready when they need them.
Progress & Skills
A fundraising log, calendar and Skills Lab that make every week feel worthwhile.
Your role matters more than you think
They do the fundraising. You make the belief possible.
You do not need to run every event, write every social post or have all the answers. The best support is often simple, regular and full of belief.
- 1Make the time. Ten minutes together each week is enough to look at progress, celebrate effort and choose the next move.
- 2Be the steady voice. Help them work out what to do after a disappointing week, rather than doing it all for them.
- 3Open the right doors. Introduce them to your trusted adult network, then let them learn how to make the ask.
One practical part of the plan
Meet the Expedition Treasurer.
Fundraising becomes more powerful when the money is treated with the same care as the effort that earned it. Our Expedition Treasurer approach helps families create a dedicated home for fundraising money while teaching their teenager how income, costs and profit really work.
It is not about making your teen worry about money. It is about letting them see the brilliant result of their work: what came in, what it cost to create it, and what is now safely moving them towards their goal.
You are not doing this alone
Because the fundraising journey can feel daunting for parents too.
You may be excited for them while quietly wondering where to begin: what they are allowed to do, how to make events work, whether you have missed something important and who you can ask when you need a straight answer.
✓Ways2Raise is here for you as well as your teenager. You bring the encouragement and real-world care. We give you a private place to find guidance, reassurance and other parents who truly understand the journey.
Things we can help you get your head around
?“Can we run a raffle or prize draw?”
?“What do we need for a local stall or fundraising event?”
?“How do other parents keep their teenager motivated?”
How we look after your teenager
Independent enough to grow. Supported enough to stay safe.
Ways2Raise gives teenagers room to take ownership of their fundraising while making the important boundaries visible, practical and parent-led.
A shared fundraising inbox
We recommend a separate, generic fundraising email such as RubyKenyaTrip@gmail.com. Your teenager can confidently contact businesses and supporters, while you both know the password and can see every message in and out. It is separate from your parent/guardian account email. Set up a free Gmail account.
Privacy rules from day one
We teach young people never to use a surname, home address, private phone number, school name, password or bank detail. For local fundraising, use the nearest town or city—not an exact address. Their Ways2Raise account is first-name only.
Nothing public without your approval
Their fundraising webpage uses a first name, approved no-face header and unique page number. When they are ready, they send changes for your review. Nothing is published until you check it and click Approve in Parent Lounge.
You keep the controls
Parent Lounge is protected by your own PIN. It is where you approve webpages, manage optional sharing, control Alex and permanently delete your family account and identifiable data whenever you choose.
Alex: AI with boundaries
Alex teaches practical AI skills for fundraising in a safe, structured space—not an open-ended chatbot. Alex does not receive their account profile, email or fundraising records: only the chat text they choose to enter. You can turn Alex on or off, review the recent conversation in Parent Lounge, and it is limited to three messages a day. It keeps no long-term chat memory.
Start with belief. Build the plan together.
The best souvenir from an expedition is not a photograph. It is a young person who knows they can do hard things.
Open their free Ways2Raise account together. In around 15 minutes, you will have the foundations in place: their target, The Set Up, their first-name-only webpage and the support system to help them get started.
Parent or guardian involvement is built into the account set-up for under-18s. Every Ways2Raise account includes the complete toolkit, with no payment card or subscription required.