Using outdoor activities to give young people with a learning disability the chance to take on some new and challenging activities that helps with independence and well being.
Many young people with a learning disability and/or autism can often have very limited access to outdoor activities or physically challenging experiences. Little Grove CIC is a service for young people with a learning disability based in Hertfordshire and with their 'Lets Get Out There' project they wanted to support a group of young people engage in challenging themselves to try new things, particularly outdoors.
Dawn from Little Grove applied to the Alpkit Foundation for support towards the project.
"With a positive approach to risk taking we wanted to introduce our group to some new experiences by visiting local outdoor adventure facilities & supporting them to give them a go as part of our wider wellbeing programme. We support 29 young people and 62 family members and this project was available to all of them to participate in."
With £250 of Alpkit Foundation support it helped towards a full day of activities, along with the costs of running smaller events for a wider group of young people, including those not able to access the larger event. It was great to hear back from Dawn that the young people had thoroughly enjoyed their time, tried something new and exceeded their own expectations of what they could achieve. It's always a real joy hearing about how outdoor experiences can have such a positive response, with those taking part reflecting on how it had made them feel 'proud' 'brave' and 'strong'
“The impact of achieving things they did not think possible was significant to all the young people that participated. It was also impactful for their parents/carers who expressed immense pride in their achievements and appreciation for the sense of wellbeing their young people got from the experiences.
Almost all of those who engaged with sessions have requested to do a similar thing again so we feel we have also achieved a peripheral aim of getting them interested and motivated by outdoor activity."
What's awesome is that having tried these activities and with more confidence, means that their support needs have reduced for any future events making replicating similar activities more accessible and more cost-effective too. Along with their overnight stays, stay clubs and other social activities, it means that Little Grove can deliver a real rich programme that helps to develop these young peoples confidence and independent living skills.
Check out the wonderful Little Grove CIC