Fully funded outdoor trips for charities at Mount Cook

Derbyshire charities who work with hard-to-reach young people receive funding to visit Mount Cook Adventure Centre

Mount Cook Adventure Centre, a not-for-profit organisation based in Wirksworth with a commitment to providing access to the outdoors, has achieved funding to provide activities and residential programmes to disadvantaged young people from Derbyshire and surrounding counties.

In March 2023, Mount Cook Adventure Centre applied to a funding grant from UK Youth – a leading charity and youth network that empowers children and young people. They received funding for 80 young people aged between 11 and 18 to take part in an “Adventures Away From Home” project, which was aimed at accessing disadvantaged young people and giving them the opportunity to experience the outdoors.

Mount Cook reached out to new and existing customers to find charities who could utilise the funding. One of the groups that visited was Team Fostering, which is a not-for-profit fostering agency based in the East Midlands and North Yorkshire. Mount Cook have been working with Team Fostering for several years to provide team building experiences for young people with experience of care.

Claire from Team Fostering says: “As a not-for-profit fostering agency, we work with children of all ages and from all backgrounds; their uniting feature is that they all live with Team Fostering foster carers.

We pride ourselves on being able to offer our children a wide range of activities to take part in, so when Mount Cook offered us an adventure day which was funded we jumped at the chance. Price is always a factor when sourcing activities so being able to give our young people this amazing opportunity free of charge was invaluable.

Spending the day outdoors, challenging themselves and working as a team provide massive benefits to young people who have not had the best start in life and opportunities like this mean so much to them and their carers. Thank you Mount Cook for a fabulous day.”

Mount Cook also used this funding to deliver programmes to Umbrella- Embracing Abilities, and two other Derby based charities, and Endeavour, a Sheffield based charity. Each day trip or residential included exciting activities suitable for teenagers, like high ropes or the new abseil, all led by highly trained instructors.

Mount Cook Sales & Marketing Manager, Madeline Casey says: “This funding has provided great opportunity to meet our mission and work with charities who are both familiar and new to us.

The benefits of engaging with the outdoors for disadvantaged young people are remarkable. Learning to challenge themselves in a safe environment and developing perseverance alongside their peers and families is paramount to development.

Many of these children face barriers to the outdoors, such as lack of access to green areas and financial obstacles.”

Mount Cook welcomes all charities and are always looking for opportunities to work with young people and adults who may face obstacles to accessing the outdoors. To find out more, call 01629 823 702 or email explore@mountcook.uk.