Access to Nature: Excitement Builds

We’d like to share the great work going on in the Outdoor Education Department with you. Access to Nature is a fantastic programme for helping participants onto the next stage of education/training/employment. We’re grateful for the opportunity given to us by our funders – the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund, and The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England, the Environment Agency, and the Forestry Commission.

This is the second of six blogs recounting their adventures: 

During the second week of our Access to Nature program, each group was taken to the Nottingham Climbing Centre where they learnt valuable skills such as belaying and bouldering. These ‘hard’ skills were taught in order to prepare members for an outdoor climbing session in the Peak District, ensuring they would have the knowledge and ability to make the most of the trip. They also developed soft skills such as trust, which was a big focus for many in the group. It was important to us that each member of the group would be able to keep their climbing partner safe and be kept safe in return. The session ended with a debrief of the day’s events and the group were briefed on the following week’s plan.

Excitement and anticipating built in the group, who were increasingly looking forward to applying their new skills together in the Peak District.

If you feel these activities would benefit the young people in your school or group, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing jack.flemming@ymcarhg.org