What's ahead for 2023

Welcome to our first LinkedIn newsletter! We're planning to share young people's stories, news and updates every month or so, and we'll kick off with what's ahead for 2023. We have some exciting adventures planned, and can't wait to get back out and about with our young people soon. This year, we’ll be challenging 300 young people to step out of their comfort zones so that they can develop resilience, confidence and teamwork - the skills they’ll need to fulfil their potential. Every Youth Adventure journey is unique and we'll be making sure each young person gets the individual support they need throughout their time with us to achieve their own goals.

Read on to find out more about our plans as well as some of the ways you might like to get involved.

What’s in store

The Youth Adventure Programme, running over 3 school years, makes up the bulk of our annual programme of activities. But even though we have a structure, one of the things we love about the Youth Adventure Trust is that no one year is the same! Each group dynamic is different, which gives our Programme Managers a new challenge each year to find activities that will appeal to the young people they are working with, come up with ways to keep the group engaged and develop bespoke support packages to help the individuals on the programme achieve their personal objectives.

We'll be kicking off our 2023 Programme in February half term with adventure, creative or team challenge Activity Days for our younger group, whilst our older group will continue their Pathway Days with a 'Give Back' themed day volunteering on a community conservation project.

We'll be returning to the Jurassic Coast in May for Coastal Camps, and it won't be long until the days are long and we're running our summer Mountain and Forest Camps.

In June we'll say goodbye to the group who started their Youth Adventure journey back in 2021, so our Programme Managers will be kept busy helping them to prepare for their next steps, whilst also meeting the 80 young people who will be joining us in 2023.?We have 20 mentoring partnerships on the go at the moment and will have 20 new ones starting in the Autumn. And we have an exciting new project afoot....

So, watch this space for more success stories, more tales of adventure, more photos and more updates as 2023 progresses!

The volunteer effect

Volunteers are at the heart of our work with young people - we simply couldn’t deliver our life changing work without them. We’ve seen the benefit of involving volunteers for a long time, and we know the volunteers themselves get a lot out of their experiences. But we cannot under-estimate the impact our volunteers have on the young people they work with.

Director of Programmes and Development, Tessa Woodrow, recently wrote a?blog post?which explores how volunteers shape the young peoples' experiences on our Programme and the crucial role they play in 'inspiring young lives'.

Join their journey... Programme Volunteers required

Love the outdoors and want to make a difference to young lives? Working alongside other volunteers, trained members of staff and activity instructors, join us as a Programme Volunteer to help young people achieve their potential. For more information about the role, visit our website or?contact Jon Rich, Senior Volunteer Manager, at [email protected].?If the role isn’t for you, please spread the word to your connections!

David's Story: the start of a big journey

David has a very difficult home life and his school felt the Youth Adventure Trust would give him some time away, a chance to broaden his aspirations and the opportunity to improve his feelings of self-worth. As a result of some of the challenges at home, including safety concerns relating to his birth-father, the ill-health of his step-father and two siblings with additional needs, his Mum is understandably very protective and cautious about allowing David the freedom to explore the world.

David's Programme Manager spent a lot of time reassuring Mum that he would be well looked after in our care and helping David to overcome his nerves enough to be able to attend his Explore Day and Mountain Camp last summer. David is making real progress, learning to embrace opportunities and realising he can achieve more than he thinks. Read more about his experiences?here.

Building resilience for the year ahead

Our virtual?Resilience Challenge?is back! Get outdoors, build your resilience and have some fun this February. With so many being impacted by the cost of living crisis, the Resilience Challenge gives people a chance to get active for free, all whilst building your own resilience and helping those who need it most during this difficult time.

Will you kick 2023 off with a challenge?

Give the gift of adventure

We are only able to support young people through this challenging and uncertain time thanks to the support of people who volunteer, donate, fundraise or leave a gift in their Will.?We know times are hard at the moment, but if you are able to?make a gift?to support young people, it will make a huge difference. Thank you.