The Youth Adventure Trust programmes are about building confidence and resilience, trying something different, and meeting new people. As your time with YAT comes to an end, we hope you’ll look forward to new challenges, feel ready to give different things a go, and build on your experiences by getting involved in things that interest you in your local area.
There’s lots of different options; from youth groups and creative clubs, to sports teams and award schemes. You may even be able to go on an adventure expedition, or become a volunteer helping other people out.
Follow the links to help you make contact with other youth organisations, or get in touch with the YAT team if you’d like to have a chat about what you could do next.
You can visit our Help Hub for other ideas, information on local activities, and advice on getting support if you’re worried about anything. There’s also a section for parents and carers with advice on mental health, social media awareness and more.
14 years+
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Get Active
- Sports Clubs In Wiltshire: A list of sports clubs in Wiltshire.
- Sports Clubs In Swindon: A list of sports clubs in Swindon.
- Leisure Centres in Wiltshire
- Yumping: Adventure sports in Wiltshire.
- WASP (Wiltshire and Swindon Sport): Sports clubs in Swindon and Wiltshire.
- Climbing Centres: A directory of climbing venues in and around Wiltshire.
- Mountain Training England are the governing body for Climbing and Hill Walking in England. They offer climbing courses and hill walking courses from introductory to advanced level, with minimum ages ranging from 10-16 years old.
- The Wiltshire Outdoor Learning Team or WOLT, are a locally based organisation with lots of experience delivering outdoor adventures to schools, families, individuals and youth groups. They run activities across the county and beyond. Find out more on there website.
- BarBend aim to provide the most informed content around fitness and strength training. From improving posture to building muscle, they have loads of blogs and articles to help you exercise well at home here.
- Cotswold Water Park has various water sports and land-based activities.
- Dojos.co.uk is a list of venues for all sorts of martial arts including Krav Maga, mixed martial arts, Karate, TaeKwonDo and more.
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Get Creative
- Drama Groups: Drama groups in Wiltshire.
- Wiltshire Music Centre: What’s on at the music centre and how you can get involved.
- Prime Theatre (Swindon): A theatre group in Swindon for under 18’s.
- Swindon Dance: A range of dance classes for up to 16 year olds.
- Vaughn’s Kitchen is a fantastic cookery school based in Devizes offering public courses, pop up events, and even Young Chef courses. They even offer free recipes on their website, such as this one for Basic White Bread.
- Rag and Bone Arts: Theatre, dance & art workshops, clubs and courses.
- Wiltshire Young Musicians: Bands, orchestras and choirs across Wiltshire.
- Cathedral Youth Choir (Salisbury): Salisbury Cathedral’s youth choir.
- Wiltshire Creative has a long list of classes and workshops to get involved in including drama, dance, clay and more.
- The Underground Studios: Opportunities for creative sessions in Salisbury
- Leisure Organisations
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Financial Support
- Youth Adventure Trust Bursary Programme: Available to all young people at the end of their Youth Adventure Programme until they are 16 years old. We know that taking part in activities can be expensive with things like club memberships or equipment, so let us know if there is something in particular you need help with and we’ll try to find a way to support you if we can.
- Cam&Bear Fund: Grants of up to £500 available for 12-18 year olds to help them take part in outdoor activities.
- The Gane Trust provides grants of up to £500 to individuals for things like art, craft and design materials, and other costs associated with education and training.
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Local Information
- Youth Action Wiltshire: Information for Young Carers.
- Splash: Free activities available in school and summer holidays.
- Wiltshire Clubs Information: Browse through the wide selection of leisure activities available in Wiltshire.
- Wiltshire Youth Council: have your say on decisions that are made in your area. Youth councillors will be helping to allocate money to projects that are important to them and their peers. They will also have the chance to inspect council services, ensuring that these represent young people’s best interests. For age 11-17.
- Greatwood Charity work with retired and rescued former race horses and offer a wide range of educational programmes and events to get involved with.
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Volunteering and Expeditions
- Duke of Edinburgh Award: Find everything you need to know about the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Search providers by location. You can search for DofE volunteer opportunities here. If you want to complete the fantastic DofE awards scheme this is a great place to start. You can also talk to your Programme Manager who can help you complete your DofE.
- Inspiring Girls Expeditions: Unique, tuition-free wilderness science expeditions for young women aged 15-17.
- Wiltshire Wildlife Trust: Volunteering opportunities across Wiltshire.
- Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital are based in Salisbury, helping 1000’s of animals every year. They accept volunteers from the age of 16 upwards with lots of different roles available.
- Wiltshire Wildlife Conservation Volunteers carry out a wide range of tasks to help maintain and improve conditions for wildlife in Wiltshire. No experience needed to get involved and volunteer.
- Do It. Search for volunteering opportunities by location in a wide variety of roles.
- Community First: Search Volunteer opportunities by interest. You can even search only for organisations that accept under 16 year old volunteers.
- The RSPB have tonnes of games, activities and ways to get involved to help save nature. All these activities can be found here. Some of our favourites include the Build a Hedgehog House.
- Kaya: Opportunities to volunteer abroad.
- One World: Opportunities to volunteer abroad.
- Projects Abroad: Opportunities to volunteer abroad
- NHS Cadets: Providing opportunities to explore roles in healthcare
- Wiltshire Wildlife Conservation Volunteers: Opportunities to volunteer
- Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital: Opportunities to volunteer workng with animals
- Caenhill Countryside Centre: Opportinities to volunteer
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Mental Health Support
- On Your Mind offer advice and support for your emotional wellbeing. Their website has lots of information and tips to help manage your mental health and they offer online, phone and face to face counselling and therapy.
- Barnardos run Wiltshire’s Early Mental Health and Counselling service for 5-18 year olds. They have lots of resources, positive activities, group working and counselling available.
- Kooth: A free, safe and anonymous place for young people to find online support and counselling. They have a very short video explaining everything they offer here.
- Mind are a Mental Health charity providing advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They have a specific Young Person area on their website and they offer advice and support whether its for yourself, a friend, or a partner.
- Young Minds are a youth focussed mental health charity offering support, advice, and lots more if your not feeling your best.
- Health Watch Wiltshire: A children and young persons mental health service offering a helpline, lists of different support available, and advice and guidance on where to turn when your feeling low.
- 30 Days of Happiness Challenge: Doing one thing a day that makes you happy can really improve your health, mental well being and make you feel more positive.
16 years +
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Get Active
- 1st4Sport: Qualifications in 39 sports available here.
- Wiltshire FA: Football coaching opportunities.
- Active Wiltshire: A group of leisure centres in Wiltshire & Swindon
- WASP: Sports club directory for Wiltshire & Swindon.
- England Football: Find a local club to play football.
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Get Creative
- Choirs of England: Find a choir near you.
- Wiltshire Creative has a long list of classes and workshops to get involved in including drama, dance, clay and more.
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Volunteering & Expeditions
- Royal Voluntary Service: Search for volunteer opportunities by location.
- Kaya: Opportunities to volunteer abroad.
- Wiltshire Wildlife Conservation Volunteers carry out a wide range of tasks to help maintain and improve conditions for wildlife in Wiltshire. No experience needed to get involved and volunteer.
- One World: Opportunities to volunteer abroad.
- Explorers Connect: Lots of expeditions offered each year, many with free places available to apply for.
- British Exploring Society: Take young people aged 16-25 on expeditions to wild and remote locations.
- NHS Cadets: Providing opportunities to explore roles in healthcare
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Education, Apprenticeships and Employment
- Local Courses and Qualifications: Find courses and qualifications for your age group in your area.
- Work Wiltshire: A resource and guide to your next steps for 16-24 year olds including Employment, Apprenticeships & Volunteering in Wiltshire.
- Search for all Schools and Colleges in Wiltshire and Swindon: Compare all schools and colleges performance in Wiltshire & Swindon.
- Do you want to work with horses? If so check out Greatwood Horse Charity who run two different courses aimed at helping you to start a career working with horses. There ‘Get Going’ course runs for 5 days and gets you an accredited qualification. There ‘Initial Bit’ course runs for 13 weeks and teaches you even more skills needed in the equine industry. Checkout Greatwood Charity website to contact them, or let us know and we can put your name forward.
- Wiltshire College: College courses, apprenticeships, degree level courses, evening classes, distance learning – at five campuses across the county.
- MPCT Military Academies: Military Preparation College for a career in the armed forces
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Financial Support
- Wiltshire Community Foundation: Provides Vocational Grants and University Bursaries for those studying at college, sixth form, university or undertaking an apprenticeship.
- Cam&Bear Fund: Grants of up to £500 available for 12-18 year olds to help them take part in outdoor activities.
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Something Different
- NCS: National Citizenship Service. A 3-4 week programme including outdoor activities, independent living and social action for 15-17 year olds.
- ICS: International Citizenship Service. Provides overseas volunteer placements for 18-25 year olds.
- Bemerton Heath Bike Club: Working with local young people in Salisbury restoring and selling affordable second-hand bikes.
- Martin Moran Foundation For young people with a passion for the mountains. This foundation offer fully-funded places on their 7 day programmes to 16-18 yr olds who have a passion for the mountains but may not have the support and financial resources to access them. Learn the skills, knowledge and self-reliance required to get the most out of spending time in the mountains, learning rock climbing, hill walking and much more.
- Greatwood Charity work with retired and rescued former race horses and offer a wide range of educational programmes and events to get involved with.
- Wiltshire FA Youth Council: A Youth Council that helps to shape and deliver football for young people in Wiltshire