• Improve my confidence in new situations
• Speak to new people.

Zach was open about his fears and was quick to say when he felt unsure or reluctant about something. We knew that he was nervous on his early Activity Days, when the group were asked to take on challenges such as ropes courses, archery and cooking. He also has asthma, and during the initial sessions would use his asthma as a reason to not give things a try. It was clear that both his physical health and his anxiety were closely linked, and they often held him back from fully participating.

Zach battled through many challenges both on and off the programme. At times he would only attend half a day due to his anxiety, or sometimes his asthma would make him late. However with the ongoing support of the YAT team and Programme Manager, Zach battled through and made some amazing progress. Whether it was a very chilly and wet bushcraft day, or climbing rock faces and sea cliff jumping, Zach was supported to take on new challenges.

The high ropes Activity Day halfway through the programme, proved to be a challenge too far at that time. Faced with one of his biggest fears, Zach chose not to attend at the last minute. Whilst this was disappointing, it was an understandable decision for someone still unsure of himself and the group. But what followed just a month after was quite remarkable to witness.

Zach had progressed so much during his time on the programme that he had really begun to step further outside his comfort zone, trying new activities, and slowly, we noticed a shift. He leaned less on his inhaler whether canoeing, climbing or hiking, and more on his growing confidence and the support of the Programme Manager and the consistent team of volunteers supporting the programme. His body language changed, and his interactions with others became more open and relaxed.

On the overnight expedition the YAT team wondered how, despite all his progress, Zach would cope with the final challenge – a 70m zipline across a gorge! A challenge that would have seemed impossible for Zach just a couple of months before. With gentle encouragement from the adults and support from his peers, Zach faced his fear of heights head-on. Despite visible nerves and fear, he took the leap, quite literally, and completed the zip line with determination and courage. It was a breakthrough moment, and one that summed up his journey so far; quietly confident and courageously embracing the opportunities in front of him.

Zach’s time with the Youth Adventure Trust has been a story of growth, not only in physical confidence and emotional resilience, but in self-belief. He would be the first to admit he still has fears, but his approach to challenges has shifted. Where in the past he would have said a flat out ‘no’, without even contemplating the daunting move of stepping outside of his comfort zone, he now draws confidence from the knowledge that he has already achieved things that he previously thought were out of his reach. It has been a pleasure to witness Zach’s self-belief and resilience grow over the past year. We have every confidence that he will continue this positive and resilient mindset, achieved through challenging himself and the repeated opportunities for practice and success during the past year, and we look forward to hearing how things progress for him in the years to come.

The post Zach’s Story: Battling Anxiety to Embrace Adventure appeared first on Youth Adventure Trust.

We spoke to Annabel and her mum, offering reassurance and support, encouraging both to see the chance to take part in the programme as an opportunity, rather than focusing on their anxieties about what lay in store. It became clear that Annabel had never spent any time away from home or her Mum before. Fears about the activities, about not being able to speak to Mum whenever she wanted, not knowing where she would be sleeping or what would happen if she didn’t like the food are just some examples of worries that Annabel articulated. 

Whilst acknowledging these concerns, we were very honest with Annabel that taking part in the programme and coming away was likely to prove challenging for her. However, we also explained that we had seen many young people like Annabel succeed on the programme, if they were able to take the first step. We talked about the potential benefits for Annabel that she would take into her day to day life, from increased confidence to social skills, and that sometimes practicing things that at first seem too difficult can be a great way to build much needed resilience. We agreed with Annabel that she would go away and think about the programme, and we would check in with her ahead of her first day.

In addition we spent time explaining further the benefits of the programme to Annabel’s Mum. It was going to be a big step for them both. 

Before Annabel’s first day with us – the Explore Day – her Programme Manager called her Mum a few times and spoke to Annabel too. It was clear she wanted to come along to the Explore Day, but she was still unsure about attending the residential camps.

Annabel came to the Explore Day and was paired with another young person from her school. She was quiet but got involved with the activities on the day, not speaking much to anyone other than her schoolmate. During the day, there was a session in which we discussed setting ourselves aims for the upcoming Mountain Camp. Annabel set her aim on her own and handed it to YAT staff. When we had a read of it, we were really encouraged by what Annabel had written, and felt it told us that deep down Annabel wanted to attend the camp. The aim was, ‘To finish camp and not feel like I have to go home’.

We had a few phone calls between the Explore Day and the start of Mountain Camp, both with Mum and Annabel. We talked through some of her specific concerns, whilst encouraging her to take control of what we were now sure she wanted to do deep down. 

Annabel did decide to come along to camp, and it was fantastic to see her at the coach pickup location. She was tearful getting on the coach but bravely decided to go for it. As expected Annabel did feel homesick on her first night, but we were able to reassure her sufficiently that she was able to stick with it. Annabel felt a bit better the next morning, but her general anxiety meant that she was constantly thinking about the next challenge that would come her way, be those mealtimes, activities, or a host of other things. We worked hard to coach Annabel through these challenges and Annabel made progress, however as the evenings set in she would often talk about feeling homesick and wondering about going home. Each morning of camp YAT staff made sure to celebrate that Annabel had stayed at camp another day. Adults also took every opportunity to celebrate all the achievements Annabel was making during her activities, often facing fears such as water, heights, dirt and enclosed spaces, and battling through them to take part in all the activities.

The Programme Manager also kept in regular touch with Annabel’s Mum, to reassure her and allay her own anxieties about Annabel being away.

We worked with Annabel to help her think about her own challenges and set herself a couple more aims for camp. She decided on these two aims;

‘To have more belief in myself’ and ‘To say I can instead of I can’t’.

These aims really show that Annabel understood her own personal challenges and had a real determination to push herself.

Toward the end of camp Annabel told us she feels more confident about ‘going out of my comfort zone’ and said she would like to work towards, ‘getting even more belief in myself’.

We are really happy with the start Annabel has made to her Youth Adventure Trust journey. She has overcome her usual way of thinking about the world, one informed by anxiety, threat, and limitations, and begun to move to a mindset of self-empowerment and a belief that she can change her outlook on life to enable her to feel more capable of overcoming challenges in the future.

Annabel’s Programme Manager will continue this work with Annabel over the next two academic years. There will likely be more challenges for Annabel as the programme continues. The difference now is that Annabel already has many YAT experiences to draw on. Time in which she controlled her anxieties, faced multiple fears, worked with new people, experienced a different lifestyle in a completely different environment away from the security of home and parents. These experiences will no doubt enable Annabel to face the next challenge that comes her way with more self-belief than she has perhaps ever previously felt. We can’t wait to see what she is capable of over the coming years with YAT.

The post Annabel’s Story: “To Say I Can Instead of I Can’t” appeared first on Youth Adventure Trust.

Alfie embraced every challenge on the Adventure Programme, making the most of the experience, overcoming fears and fully participating in every opportunity. However, his autism meant that he still struggled to make friends. Consequently Scott, Alfie’s Programme Manager who had supported him throughout his YAT journey, referred Alfie onto our Mentoring Programme. We hoped this 1:1 tailored approach would allow Alfie to continue building on his achievements within his community.

During the summer holidays, Alfie and his family met with the Mentoring Manager to explore how mentoring could support him further. He hoped it would boost his self-esteem, help him become more social and encourage him to ‘get out more’. To tailor our support effectively, we created a Communication Passport, helping Alfie to share his strengths, the things he finds difficult, how a mentor might be able to tell if he’s struggling, how best to communicate and any triggers. The Mentoring Manager also spent time talking to Alfie’s Dad, who also has autism, to help allay his fears about Alfie being away from the family home.

Alfie was matched with his volunteer, Iris, and although he was initially unsure in their first session together, he soon relaxed and connected with her over their shared love of computers and coding. Their sessions soon became something that Alfie looked forward to and they enjoyed getting to know each other over board games, bowling, visiting local nature spots and even building Lego robots.

Just a few months into the programme, Alfie shared how the experience had already helped him:

I like having the experience of being 1:1 and having someone to speak to. Generally she’s just got me more social because she was a complete unknown person to me and I’ve just got along really well with her. I mean I’m starting to meet a few new people and I’m getting along with people much better.

His mother also noticed a transformation:

I think Alfie is really enjoying it and he’s really coming out of his shell. We’re starting to see glimmers of hope, and Alfie back to being his normal self again and growing up to being a man. He doesn’t seem to be so worried and stressed as much any more. He’s getting some friends, getting a nice little social life and has been going out with them outside of school; something he wouldn’t have been able to do a few months ago.

As the year progressed, Alfie and Iris explored even more activities, from visiting an aviation museum to tackling a pirate-themed escape room. Alongside these experiences, their mentoring sessions provided a safe space for Alfie to talk about his day to day life, sharing any worries or challenges he was facing and allowing Iris to offer him some strategies for navigating friendships and social situations. Alfie’s openness with Iris was truly remarkable and his ability to articulate difficult feelings was equally impressive. This enabled Iris, with the support of the Mentoring Manager, to offer specific support around areas of worry for Alfie, such as healthy relationships.

Midway through the programme, Alfie reflected:

You’ve actually helped me get friends at school for once. That’s a very big change for me. Having you guys help me create friendships is great. Basically seeing people care about me is nice. I mean outside my family because my family always care about me but seeing people outside my family care about me is really nice. You’re just naturally fixing everything, I don’t even have to ask you.

Alfie’s Mum added:

He’s definitely got more self-esteem, definitely coming into himself more. Going out in public – he didn’t like going out before but you’ve shown him that there’s a lot more out there in the big wide world. He’s definitely a lot more confident.

One of Alfie’s personal goals was to learn to ride a bike, a skill he felt would give him more independence. Alfie’s parents were keen but also anxious about Alfie’s safety. So, we arranged for Iris to take him to an introductory bike lesson with an instructor. Alfie made excellent progress in a short amount of time, and so we arranged for Alfie to have some more lessons and he soon passed his Level 1 and 2 Bikeability courses. This achievement was a huge milestone in his journey toward greater freedom and self-reliance.

At his final review, Alfie shared:

Iris has helped me with my social skills, generally being in a much happier mood and getting on better with my sister. Iris has helped me to talk to people more because my social skills have been dreadful throughout my life – I cannot get on with people. So having Iris around who’s been willing to do stuff with me makes me more comfortable talking to other people and that means I get along with people much better now. You’ve done your job perfectly! First of all she’s willing to listen to all the random junk that I talk about and listen to my horrendous coding experiences. You’ve been an absolute joy to be with!

Alfie’s Dad also shared his appreciation:

He’s got somebody who he can just go and talk to which is important. He can speak about any worries because sometimes it’s hard to talk to your parents. Some of the things he might want to talk about might be sensitive so having an adult he can trust is quite a rare commodity to have.

Now focusing on his studies and planning for university, Alfie continues to grow. Alfie has expressed an interest in continuing with cycling lessons and we are in the process of supporting Alfie via our Bursary Programme with funding for further lessons, a bike and cycling equipment.

We are hugely proud of all that Alfie has achieved in his time with us and the personal development he has shown from the Adventure Programme through to the end of his mentoring year, and look forward to hearing about his next adventures beyond the Youth Adventure Trust.

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Post pandemic difficulties

The COVID pandemic had a significant impact on Ella. When she returned to the Adventure Programme after a long period of family isolation due to a family member’s health conditions, she was suffering with high levels of anxiety and having regular panic attacks. She found being around other young people overwhelming and often ended up distressed and in tears. Despite best efforts to support her, Ella did not feel able to complete her Adventure Programme. Ella’s Programme Manager hoped a referral to our Mentoring Programme would help her to overcome her fears.

A fresh start on the Mentoring Programme

Ella joined the Mentoring Programme in October 2022. This was her final year of school in which she would take her GCSE exams. Ella had some significant caring responsibilities for a family member, and alongside her own mental health difficulties, Ella had developed fears about her neighbourhood and going out alone.
These factors, on top of the family’s financial struggles and the recent death of another family member, meant Ella had not been doing anything beyond making it into school and had lost all of her confidence.

Despite all that was going on in Ella’s life, she had maintained a keen interest in history, was diligent with her school studies and continued to be an avid reader. She was looking for a mentor who was quiet, calm, and patient, and who would engage in activities with her. We were excited to match her with Julia; an upbeat, nurturing mentor whose experience with young people enabled her to offer exactly the right support for Ella. And so, they set off on their mentoring year together.

Ella’s Mentoring Aims:

• Gain confidence to go out on her own
• Buy things in shops and cafes
• Travel on public transport

Julia and Ella started to get to know one another in their early meet-ups through chats over hot chocolate, board games and colouring in. Whilst initially nervous, with Julia’s relaxed approach she soon started to enjoy the sessions. Ella had lots on her plate with revision sessions, mock exams and homework assignments and was prone to overworking herself and experiencing stress. Ella recognised that her mentoring sessions with Julia gave her a healthy break from her studies.

It made me de-stress from school, I think because it wasn’t on my mind constantly, I wasn’t at home worrying about it all the time.

Ella

Huge leaps for Ella

As time went on, Ella was growing in confidence. Towards the end of the year Ella took on the challenge of public transport – she and Julia visited a museum in Oxford and watched a play in London, travelling on buses each time. Julia’s reassuring, calm presence allowed Ella to overcome her difficulties.

By September, Ella had joined Sixth Form – she would be the first person in her family who had studied for A levels and had dreams of university abroad. In the final review meeting, it was clear to see the changes in Ella. She was more confident in talking, sharing stories of meeting up with friends, going into town and buying things from shops on her own, which would have been well beyond her reach 12 months ago.

I’ve loved it, it’s been very special and I’ve been very lucky to meet such a lovely young lady and her amazing family who have been very supportive.

Julia, Ella’s mentor

A true mentoring success

Mentoring came at a pivotal moment in Ella’s life and we are all hugely proud of her for everything that she achieved during the year. We look forward to keeping in touch and hearing how Ella gets on into her adult life.

The post Ella’s Story: Small Steps, Big Changes appeared first on Youth Adventure Trust.

Jasmine embraced the opportunity, she came along to all of her activity days and residential camps and she got stuck into every challenge that came her way. She started to build her confidence being around the other young people and, over time, started to find her voice. She responded well to being given responsibility and began encouraging other young people, taking the lead on activities and developing her team work skills. For Jasmine, the Adventure Programme provided her with the space to feel safe and accepted, where she was then able to develop interpersonal skills and start to realise her potential. Jasmine’s Programme Manager felt she would benefit from further support to continue with this positive development, so referred her to our Mentoring Programme.

Jasmine was filled with excitement about the prospect of mentoring when she was approached about the opportunity. With her final year of secondary school approaching, she felt it could really help her manage her stress with studying and the pressure of her GCSEs, and hoped it would help her develop more self belief. Jasmine wanted her mentor to be energetic, chatty and someone to have fun with. We were lucky to find Sarah who was kind, fun-loving, positive and easy to talk to, and who we felt would be the perfect fit for supporting Jasmine over the year of mentoring.

Jasmine and Sarah started to get to know each other through their fortnightly sessions, enjoying board games, crazy golf and bowling together. Jasmine immediately felt a connection with Sarah; noticing their similarities and feeling comfortable with her, she looked forward to their sessions. Jasmine’s Dad recognised how positive things were at an early review meeting:

A week before she’s talking about you, the week after she’s talking about you….. ‘We’re doing this….we’re doing that…’. She quickly makes a decision if she likes someone or not, and she liked you straight away.

Jasmine’s Dad

Jasmine lives in a busy household and often helps to look after her younger sister who has additional needs. Mentoring offered Jasmine the chance for some quiet time, away from the busy-ness and responsibilities, a place where Jasmine would be listened to and could let off steam. Jasmine found it useful to complete revision during some of her mentoring sessions in the lead up to her exams and felt reassured knowing Sarah was there for her over this stressful time.

I think it’s having my own space so I can actually process what’s going on because at school it can get overwhelming with exams and stuff, so then going out once every two weeks, it’s more I’m in my own space, I can just have that bit of time.

Jasmine

In the height of GCSE exam pressure, Jasmine’s worries about school were having an effect on her sleep and she was struggling to stay focused. Sarah’s consistent support helped to alleviate some of these difficulties for Jasmine.

I’m such an over-thinker, so I think Sarah helped me step back. I struggle to go to sleep at the moment because my brain is so switched on. I still get stressed, but having mentoring sessions, it kind of like relaxed me, so I’m not as tense.

Jasmine

Jasmine’s mum recognised how advantageous the sessions were as well over this tough period:

She seems more confident, a bit more relaxed when she comes back, she’s not so wound up. The fact that she’s had this has been a big help for her, helped her relax a bit over it, took her mind off it.

Jasmine’s Mum

Once the exams were over and Jasmine had finished secondary school, she and Sarah were able to get outside in warmer weather and enjoyed numerous walks, with Jasmine particularly enjoying taking Sarah’s dog out. They also went paddleboarding, pottery painting and out for a meal, all of which gave Jasmine opportunities to build and showcase her new found confidence and social skills in everyday settings.

Jasmine’s can-do attitude to new challenges went from strength to strength during the year. In the summer, with Sarah’s support, she volunteered to represent the Youth Adventure Trust at one of our events where she happily chatted and shared stories with people she didn’t know, and felt confident enough to share her bushcraft skills.

By the end of the mentoring year, Jasmine had started her studies at college and it was great to hear she was enjoying and thriving on her sports course. She was also throwing herself into extracurricular activities and was already playing for the college netball team and had taken on the role of Student Representative!

At our final review meeting with Jasmine and her family, her dad summed up her time with Sarah.

Since starting this and especially in the last 6 months, she’s come on leaps and bounds, she’s almost like a different person. She’s finding herself, she’s more confident in her skin and who she is as a person.

Jasmine’s Dad

We were lucky enough to see Jasmine again in November, when she volunteered once more and attended one of our fundraising events. Remarkably, she delivered a speech to a large audience, explaining to them how the Youth Adventure Trust Programmes had helped her – an impressive example of Jasmine’s willingness to take opportunities and keep challenging herself, something which she credits her time with the Youth Adventure Trust for.

I’ve got more confidence in myself and more belief in myself.

Jasmine

We’ll stay in touch with Jasmine and look forward to hearing about all she goes on to achieve, in what we’re sure will be a bright future.

The post Jasmine’s Story: A Journey of Self-Belief appeared first on Youth Adventure Trust.

Alice joined the Youth Adventure Trust as an engaging and chatty young person, but her school were concerned about her fierce determination to never work with others, and how she often misread social situations which had led to some bullying.

Alice liked to talk with enthusiasm and energy which helped her to quickly build a rapport with other young people in her group and the adults. However her chat mostly focused on herself, and she would talk at length at times without involving or showing interest in others, which was testing for some after a while.

Alice struggled with compromise and group decisions; she felt that others didn’t listen to her ideas or take them on board. As a result, she’d opt out, sulk or choose to do her own thing. By the April activity day, she was choosing to opt out of group activities before any frustrations or incidents could occur. This helped her to avoid getting upset or annoyed, but isolated her from the group and didn’t help her towards her aims of building social skills and working in teams.

It was at this stage that Alice’s Programme Manager decided to help her really focus on her teamwork skills by putting her in situations where she’d need to discuss ideas. We helped prepare her for these challenges, giving her ideas on how to lead a more collaborative group discussion, planning out how she could approach the situation, and what to do when she got frustrated.

A great chance to practice this was during the May activity day, where Alice’s team were tasked with planning how they could herd a group of sheep from one field into another. Alice put her ideas forward as to how to approach the task to her team of ten. She was clearly keen for the others to simply agree and implement her plan, but she listened to the ideas of others and showed respect for the opinions of the other young people. Alice was able to practice having a group discussion involving putting her ideas forward and taking ideas from others. Her previous complaint that no one listens to her was not voiced on this occasion. The sheep herding was of mixed success with the tactics they deployed, it turned out to be harder than it looked, but was enjoyed by all!

Over the next few activity days, Alice continued to work on her teamwork skills and her Programme Manager checked in with her regularly, recognising and praising her efforts.

In August Alice attended the Resilience adventure in the Wye Valley; a two-day overnight trip involving canoeing down a river, trekking into the woods and building a shelter to sleep in, cooking meals over a campfire, followed by some hiking and cave exploration. Initially she set out to make her own shelter in the woods, then on reflection joined up with three other girls, waking in the morning to share stories of nighttime unidentified forest noises and creepy crawlies with a huge smile on her face! She had not only proved to herself that she could do something a little scary – something that she previously would have refused to do – but she did it alongside other young people as a team.

Alice fully engaged in the Resilience Programme and got so much out of it, attending every activity day and completing all of the Takeaway Challenges in between – a series of tasks designed to build on the learning from the theme of the day. She achieved her YAT Thrive Award in her own time too, completing the three elements of Challenge, Create and Volunteer.

At the end of the programme, Mum commented:

Alice has greatly improved her social skills, she’s less emotional and has benefited from all the support YAT has given her.

It has been great to see Alice learn and develop, focusing on using her natural personality strengths in a positive way to build and maintain friendships, and to play a key role in leading and participating in a team. These experiences have shown Alice a different way to engage with the world around her, building new successful skills to ensure she fulfils her potential. We have every confidence Alice will continue to thrive and we look forward to keeping in touch and hearing what she’s up to in the future.

The post Alice’s Story: The Art of Teamwork appeared first on Youth Adventure Trust.

Like all young people who join our Adventure Programme, Sarah set herself three aims for her first residential camp, Mountain Camp:

• More confidence in my actions by giving everything a go
• Break things down to achieve one thing at a time
• Make new friends, have more self-confidence

During the camp, Sarah displayed excellent leadership skills and increased her confidence as she completed challenges such as navigating a cave system and jumping off a waterfall. She regularly demonstrated her ability to be kind, considerate, and a team player, and it was clear she wanted to use all the opportunities available. This was a great start to her Youth Adventure Trust journey!

Following Mountain Camp, Sarah experienced bullying at school, and her parents separated. This coincided with the beginning of the pandemic and really affected her mental health. The repeated lockdowns left her feeling isolated and lacking in self-confidence and she felt she had hit rock-bottom. The weekly sessions in our online Mentoring Programme gave Sarah a chance to explore strategies she could use when she was feeling low, and to help her slowly re-build her self-esteem and self-confidence. 

Once lockdowns had eased, Sarah attended Activity Days which helped her manage her anxiety levels. With the additional support from her Programme Manager, Sarah set her aims for her next residential camp, Forest Camp, as:

• Not to let others distract me
• Not to be as sensitive
• To be more confident and believe in myself

Although still feeling anxious, Sarah found the courage to attend Forest Camp and we saw a marked change in her – she demonstrated lots of positive actions, and motivated and encouraged her group to complete the activities even when they found them challenging. Other young people identified Sarah as a leader, and she was often in the middle of anything that went well for her team. She found it hard to acknowledge the positive feedback she was receiving from her peers but made a conscious effort to start listening to it. Sarah’s experience in Forest Camp helped her understand that her contributions are worthwhile, helped her to gain confidence and to build strong friendships. 

As the programme came to an end, we could see that Sarah had begun to make positive changes in her confidence and wellbeing. We felt there was more we could do, so recommended Sarah to our Mentoring Programme where she could receive one-to-one support fortnightly for a year.

During this time, Sarah was also accessing specialist support for her mental health, and so we matched her with a mentor who would complement this. Sarah was still experiencing challenges at home and bullying from young people in her community; mentoring offered Sarah time away from the family home, a safe environment where she could talk if she wanted to, but also the chance to engage in some fun and challenging activities to build her confidence.

Gradually, over the course of the year, Sarah’s situation started to improve, and the consistent support and positive relationship with YAT helped Sarah develop her self-belief, focus on the positives, and build resilience. Her mentor was able to give Sarah advice around managing relationships to help her see things from other perspectives, and they enjoyed activities together including climbing, golf, bowling and walking. They formed a positive bond with lots of laughter as well as open conversations.

We get on really well and she can be very funny but we also relate on a lot of levels.

Sarah, describing her relationship with her mentor.

At the end of her mentoring year Sarah’s confidence level was at the highest we had seen, and she was able to be insightful about herself and the progress she had made:

With the Youth Adventure Trust, they’re just really supportive. They listen and have given me a whole different perspective on adults as a whole. I feel like I’m more open, especially with my parents, than I ever was before, so that’s helped my connection with them a lot.

Sarah, reflecting on her progress

For Sarah, being part of the Youth Adventure Programme, the additional support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then the YAT Mentoring Programme, has been life changing. She feels ready for the challenges and adventures that await her in the next stages of her life, and the 16-year-old we see now is a very different, more resilient, happier and confident young person to the 11-year-old we first met.

The post Sarah’s Story: a life-changing journey of self-discovery appeared first on Youth Adventure Trust.

Jessica was a little nervous on her first day with us. She was very quiet and didn’t speak to many people. However, she took part in all the activities and clearly enjoyed the chance to meet new people. Before her first residential camp, Jessica’s Programme Manager spent some time with Jessica and her mum at their home, going through an individual care plan relating to her health condition. This was a really useful exercise for both mum and Jessica, allowing them to feel more confident about her staying away for 6 days, and taking part in so many energetic activities.

Jessica approached Mountain Camp with a fantastic attitude. As a result of our work around aim setting, Jessica decided her camp aim would be ‘Realising that I can do the same as others even when I’m anxious’. With the attentive support of Youth Adventure Trust staff, Jessica was able to take a lead role in managing her condition for the first time. Despite having to take extra steps around mealtimes and before and after activities, Jessica contributed fully to her team and took part in all the activities. Thanks to the safe and friendly environment created at Mountain Camp, Jessica went far beyond what she thought she was capable of and we could see her confidence grow as the camp progressed. She made new friends, shared ideas, and challenged herself on all the activities. We were confident that Jessica left camp with a renewed sense of confidence and a belief in her own ability to manage her condition, setting herself an ongoing aim to ‘Have more trust in myself and other people’.

After sending feedback about her Mountain Camp experience to Jessica’s school, we were contacted by her teacher to thank us for the work we had done with her over the summer; ‘Jessica has come back to school with a glow about her and a lot more confidence’. September, 2021

Sadly during the following winter months we were informed by her parents that Jessica’s wellbeing had deteriorated to the point where she had been having suicidal thoughts and using her diabetes to force hypoglycemic incidents. Upon hearing this her Programme Manager began visiting her in school to offer her some additional support. Jessica was still feeling limited by her condition and struggling socially at school. In their meetings Jessica’s Programme Manager spent time with her reflecting on all she had achieved at the camp and Activity Days, and the new friends she had made. We let Jessica know about available support and encouraged her parents to seek professional help, which they did. One of Jessica’s three Activity Days over the winter was based around animal care. Here we partnered her with a friend from Mountain Camp and together they spent time caring for horses, goats and dogs. It was lovely to see the happiness on Jessica’s face, and hear from her mum afterwards how much she had taken from the day.

The following spring the next part of Jessica’s programme was Coastal Camp. Jessica was a non-swimmer and again would have to manage her diabetes with YAT’s support in a challenging environment, so she was understandably worried. We were also aware that her mental health, although improving, would be tested by the new environment and experiences she would face at Coastal Camp. With our support, Jessica was able to focus on her aims for camp and worked hard to stop feelings of anxiety preventing her from taking part in activities and sharing ideas with her group. Again Jessica was able to achieve more than she thought possible and was a regular source of support and encouragement to those around her.

“I was very nervous but I got more and more confidence and I was like, oh I really love this.”

Jessica, June 2022

A few months later in the summer of 2022 Jessica attended Forest Camp. Again, this new environment would pose challenges with regard to her diabetes. There is often no phone signal on Forest Camp, something Jessica usually relies on to monitor her blood sugar levels. Again, staff were on hand to support Jessica with both her diabetes and mental health needs. Jessica had a really positive experience at the camp and went away feeling more confident in many different areas. By the end she was comfortable talking to everyone in her group individually and collectively, including explaining her diabetes and how having the condition affects her mental health.

Jessica is now reaching the last stage of her Youth Adventure Programme with four Pathway Days planned over the year. Through the environment, challenges and support our programme offers, we have seen Jessica gain confidence in being independent and managing her diabetes as well as understanding she is as capable as any other young person. She has become more self aware, and has accessed support for her mental health. This support has allowed Jessica to look at life and the future more positively, whilst allowing her to celebrate her own strengths and accomplishments. She has made new friendships, and grown in confidence when speaking with others or taking part in new experiences.

“Even now if there’s something I’m scared or worried about I just think of my time on YAT and think, I could do that, why can’t I do this. I just think that all the time and it’s really been a big help.”

Jessica, February 2023

Jessica continues to attend everything on the programme and make the most of the opportunities on offer. We are sure that she will go on to use her new found confidence and insight to fulfil her potential. We are looking forward to keeping in touch and seeing how she gets on in future years.

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David’s school hoped that the Youth Adventure programme would allow him some time away from home, a chance to grow and flourish, and develop his own self-worth.

Before David was due to attend his first day, his Programme Manager spent time talking with his Mum, going over the practicalities of the programme. It was clearly difficult for her to allow him to attend the residential parts of our programme and it took plenty of time and patience to reassure her that David would be well taken care of whilst in our care.

In July 2022 David attended his first day, the Explore Day, with trepidation but also excitement. He found all of the activities challenging and relied on adult support for much of the day. Within his group, David made some new friends and as a result, we began to see him open up more as the day went on.

A few weeks later David attended the first of the three camps on his programme, the Mountain Camp. Again David was very timid during the activities. Having expected this based on his Explore Day, Youth Adventure Trust staff planned for a volunteer to be in David’s group who had experience and patience in helping young people who were less confident at the activities.

During the camp David’s Programme Manager sent some messages home to let Mum know how David was getting on. She replied; 

“So glad he decided to do this. We are all really proud of him. Grateful to all of you for the opportunities you’ve given him.” 

There were moments on Mountain Camp which David found particularly challenging; the mountain expedition where he had to carry all his own equipment on a long day hike and camp remotely in the Welsh hills; a canoeing session which as a non-swimmer who had never been in deep water, was a real leap. In moments such as these David could be quite negative and self critical. However, with Youth Adventure Trust staff and volunteers supporting and encouraging him, David was able to complete all the activities and challenges he faced during his time at Mountain Camp. Through doing so, David began to realise that he is capable of more than he had ever previously realised. He grew in confidence, made new friends, enjoyed the time away from home, and started to look at life with a more positive mindset, seeing challenges as opportunities rather than threats.

In October 2022 David attended his first Activity Day and really enjoyed the opportunity to meet up with familiar faces from camp. He is now eagerly looking forward to 2023 and the rest of his Youth Adventure Programme. 2023 will be a big year for David, with two residential camps and a host of Activity Days throughout the year. During these camps and days David will face new experiences and challenges. With the support of Youth Adventure Trust staff we are sure he will be able to take on these challenges and continue the development we saw on Mountain Camp. The programme will show David he can do more than he thinks, supporting him to embrace opportunities rather than being fearful of all new things, paving the way for a more positive approach in his future life.

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When she came to her Explore Day back in June, Kate was exceptionally anxious. She cried a lot and didn’t really engage with the activities – but she successfully completed the day thanks to the support of her Programme Manager, Rob. He could see just how much the programme would benefit Kate with the support she needed to fully engage with it. However, just before she was due to go on Mountain Camp, Kate’s mum texted Rob to say she had decided not to attend – she was just too anxious. 

Rob spoke to Kate and her mum and managed to persuade her to take just the first step and come to the pick-up point for the journey to camp; she could see how she felt about getting on the coach once she was there. Rob arranged for Kate to arrive early so she could get on the coach before the other young people, which he felt would be less intimidating for her. Unfortunately when Kate saw the coach, she got even more anxious and refused to get on. With lots of encouragement and support from Rob, she eventually got on the coach and sat next to another member of Youth Adventure Trust staff, who kept her distracted by chatting and playing games during the journey to the Brecon Beacons.

Rob was in regular contact with her mum throughout camp, who was almost as anxious about Kate being away as she was herself. Kate found being at camp daunting, she was sad at times and carried her teddy around for comfort. She was given lots of support and encouragement from Rob and the wider Youth Adventure Trust team. Rob helped her to break her worries and the experience down into smaller steps, and encouraged her to take one small thing at a time, rather than being overwhelmed by the bigger picture. The first step was to make it through to dinner time, then to make it through the evening activity, then make it through the night to the next day. 

Kate did really well to make it through the first night of camp but the next day she felt that she wanted to go home as it was all still feeling very daunting. Rob and Kate talked about her options, and in the end Kate felt able to stay one more night. Rob kept in touch with Kate’s mum, who agreed this was a good approach to help Kate overcome some of her anxieties. Rob promised Kate that he would call her mum to collect her and take her home the next day if she able to stay another night, and talked about how proud she could be of her achievements. That day, Kate and her team hiked up into the hills to stay overnight away from the main camp. This was an amazing achievement for Kate, who found that she actually enjoyed looking out over the landscape, watching the sunset and looking at the stars without the pressure of thinking she would have to stay three more nights.

As agreed, Kate’s mum came to collect her the next day; she was so proud of herself and the fact that she had spent two nights away from home. On her return home Kate realised she had left her beloved teddy up on the hill where they had stayed, and was surprised that she hadn’t actually noticed until that point, as she usually kept it so close. Rob arranged for a search party to find it and he sent a photo of the safely recovered teddy to Kate. At the end of the camp Kate and her mum came to the drop off point to collect it, and to say hello to her team mates again. She’s looking forward to continuing to build these friendships at the next part of her Youth Adventure Programme, a series of activity days over the winter.

This experience really helped build the trust between the Youth Adventure Trust, Kate and her mum, which was absolutely crucial for Kate to be able to continue her journey with us. It has shown that we can help Kate push herself out of her comfort zone but also that she can approach all challenges by choice. Being the first camp, Mountain Camp really sets the foundations for the rest of the programme, and Kate has already learnt that she is capable of more than she ever thought possible. We’re looking forward to seeing all she will achieve and her resilience grow further over the coming years.

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