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Providers and leaders

Award providers

We term organisations that have been approved to deliver the Award ‘Providers’. Most people complete their John Muir Award with an Award Provider organisation. These include schools, outdoor learning centres, community or youth groups and more.

Award Providers are responsible for meeting the provider responsibilities, as shown in our handbook. We ask that providers read the Award handbook before deciding to deliver the John Muir Award.

John Muir Trust group membership requirement - effective August 2025

From August 2025, we will require that all Award Providers hold group membership of the John Muir Trust. An Award Provider is the direct organisation whom the Award leader is associated with. The membership fee covers all Award groups delivered within your organisation.

For an annual payment of £66, your organisation will benefit from:

  • 1-1 support from the Award Team in planning your John Muir Award(s)
  • A welcome pack
  • Copies of the Journal, our biannual magazine celebrating wild places across the UK
  • A digital Award Provider certificate - available on request after successful Award delivery 

Some providers have previously chosen to hold group membership of the John Muir Trust to support our work.

Making this subscription a mandatory requirement will strengthen the connection between providers and the John Muir Trust and will help ensure the sustainability of the Award for years to come. The majority of costs incurred in running the Award will still be covered by the John Muir Trust.

Its important that the Award remains accessible for all groups. If you are a small community and / or voluntary sector Provider supporting groups who experience barriers to accessing wild places, and cannot afford the £66 annual membership fee, you can apply to our social fund to cover your membership fee. For more information on the criteria, please refer to our FAQs.

Award leaders

Award Leaders are employed by (or volunteer for) the provider organisation. Leaders must be over the age of 18 and are responsible for submitting Award proposals and leading Award activity. Leaders must read the Award handbook and take time to understand the criteria before planning activities.

To gain approval to deliver the Award, leaders must submit a Proposal Form which describes the group and how the Award will be delivered. The approval creates an informal agreement between a Provider and the John Muir Trust.

Proposal Forms

Each leader is responsible for their own Proposal Forms and is also required to submit the Review Form for their groups. 

If another Award leader within your organisation delivers similar activities, they must submit a separate Proposal Form for their group/s.