The fear of scarcity

And how it gets in the way of generosity and sharing

The outdoors sector is full of gatekeepers - people for whom the status quo works well, and who aren’t interested in supporting people who face additional barriers to access those same spaces that they walked into freely.

There are also those pushing against it - those who recognise their position and privilege and take active steps to work on building inclusion and equity within the industry - sharing contacts, using their platform to shout about other people doing great work, challenging the way things are done within their roles.

This is not news.

On a panel discussion earlier this year at the Outdoor Connections event run by YHA and All The Elements, we talked about the fear of scarcity that comes from working in the third sector. As someone who runs a group working on inclusion in the outdoors, I feel this. I really feel it. I see the need for our work and hear that need from our community on a daily basis, but our funding is so insecure. There’s so much work that needs doing, but our finances and resources are so tight, things are constantly postponed or put in the ‘future work’ pile.

This in turn leads to fear around sharing opportunities and contacts with other organisations in the sector. I recently came across a useful funding opportunity that I applied to, but didn’t share it more widely as I was afraid it would affect our likelihood of being successful in an application. Don’t get me wrong - I’ve shared a lot of contacts and funding opportunities along the way too, but it’s always with a bit of fear in case this means my organisation gets less and can’t do the work we know needs doing.

At Kendal Mountain Festival this year, I went to an event put on by the ALINE collective, exploring how outdoor creatives can support each other whilst bringing about change in the industry. Talk turned to how under-represented voices often fight so hard to get work, and it’s difficult to bring in new people without fearing that this will impact on your own potential work.

I’m an experienced freelance writer, but have struggled to get commissions for outdoors publications, and the work I’ve done has been focused on my experience as a plus sized person rather than my general outdoors knowledge or activities. I’ve found myself protective over connections I’ve fought so hard to get, uneasy about sharing writing opportunities but instead focusing on using these opportunities to advocate for photographers whose work is aligned with mine.

At the ALINE talk, some reflected on this situation, saying, “There should be enough seats at the table for everyone.”

The challenge though is that there isn’t.

There isn’t enough funding to go around because we’re all applying to the same limited number of funding opportunities and working from lean budgets. And as creatives, we’re often left pitching to a subset of publications that are interested in hearing from diverse voices. And when our own income - either as an organisation or as a creative - is on the line, it’s difficult to step away from the fear of scarcity into a place of generosity and sharing.

I want to be part of a space where organisations and people lift each other up, inviting people in rather than view each other as competition. I want to be part of the solution, not become part of the problem. But for that to be viable we need more seats at the table.

The reality is that the support I’ve had that has enabled me to get to where I am has been from people who are established in the industry - who have some stability and security in where their work comes from. I’ve been writing about farming, my other field of focus, for almost a decade and have felt comfortable making introductions and supporting new voices and people into that field without worrying about the impact on my own work. Perhaps then, within the outdoors industry, what we need is more support from those already at the table.

I’m grateful for the community that All The Elements brings, and the rich knowledge sharing that happens, and I’m inspired to lean in with a more generous and open heart. I’m hopeful that the ALINE Collective can help create more opportunities and bring important conversations around a lot of these issues. I’m also learning that support doesn’t have to mean putting yourself in competition for the same opportunities, but can involve sharing experiences and learnings from your journey to guide people along the way.