Back in the summer of 2020 we were nominated by our friends at Ellis Brigham to receive a grant from The North Face’s Explore Fund, set up to encourage exploration and support dedication to the outdoors. They have put together a fantastic film which showcases how their support has helped.
The money we received has allowed us to offer additional support to the young people on our programme by providing online mentoring and virtual group sessions. This included the Summer Of Adventure programme, a whole package of free ideas, activities and resources to support young people over the six-week Summer Holiday and beyond, whilst allowing them to work towards their Thrive Award.
Many young people were understandably very anxious at the prospect of returning to school in September. Online mentoring and the development of specific ‘Back to School’ sessions and games allowed volunteer mentors to guide them through this transition.
Thankfully by October Half Term, the much-needed opportunity for young people to reconnect with the outdoors was made available again (in line with concurrent government advice). Carefully planned free activity sessions were organised to help small groups of vulnerable young people to become more confident, improve their teamwork, communication skills and to experience the outdoors in new ways.
We are so grateful for the support of The North Face Explore Fund and Ellis Brigham – thank you!