Snow-Camp Wales Gets £10,000 Funding Boost
Snow-Camp are the UK’s only registered charity to use a unique combination of snowsports, life-skills sessions, qualifications and vocational opportunities to support inner-city young people.
The charity, established nearly 15 years ago in 2003, has a small, dedicated team who are passionate about delivering an alternative approach to engage young people by providing a year-long Programme Journey making use of artificial and indoor ski slopes in the UK. So far they’ve helped nearly 8,800 young people get on in their lives. Snow-Camp’s ambassadors and patrons include Sir Steve Redgrave and Olympic medallist Jenny Jones.
On Snow-Camp’s 10th anniversary in 2013, the charity embarked on an expansion from its South East England base to go national with a vision to be operating in five cities by 2018. They hit that target opening branches in Scotland, Wales as well as Bristol and the Midlands with 85% of participants going onto employment, training, further education or other positive destinations last year, following completion of their Snow-Camp programme journey. This year there are plans to expand in to Manchester.
£10,000 For Snow-Camp Cardiff
(Pic: The donation was presented to Andrew Kimber – Snow-Camp Cardiff Programme Manager – at the Cardiff Ski & Snowboard Centre by Dan Evans & Nick Russill from Snow-Forecast and Richard Hyett & Robin Kellen from Snowsport Wales).
Three ski businesses, Snow-Forecast, Ski Armadillo and Coolbus recently got together to boost Snow-Camp Cardiff with £10,000 worth of support, thanks to The Big Give
The Big Give, the UK’s biggest online match-funding campaign, was supported by the three with a £4000 donation, which (with GiftAid) generated £10,000 worth of support for Snow-Camp Cardiff.
The donation will directly support the development of Snow-Camp’s growing Cardiff Programme, supporting over 100 inner-city young people through 2018.
“Snow-Forecast.com, founded 20 years ago by three lifelong friends from South Wales, are very happy to see how our passion and global presence is being translated into helping snow-related causes as close as three miles from our original head office in Cardiff where it all began!” said Dan Evans from Snow-Forecast, who added,
“Snow-Camp rocks, and we’d like to use this opportunity to congratulate Snow-Camp on becoming our 2018 UK charity partner. Expect to see a lot more on all our channels about the amazing things they do for disadvantaged young people and the next wave of young people we’re supporting on to their programmes. Our lives definitely changed forever and very much for the better after our first visit to the mountains and we’re so glad to be part of something that will likewise fill young hearts with motivation towards snow and an active life.”
Tom Wilson, Director at holiday company Ski Armadillo added, “Ski Armadillo are proud to be supporting Snow-Camp; such an innovative and worthy youth charity. We hope our small donation will help empower inner-city young people through a combination of snowsports and life skills.”
“We’re really chuffed to have played a part in all this. When three like-minded, successful businesses put their heads together they can make a real difference!” Rob from Coolbus confirmed.
“The support for Snow-Camp Cardiff has been overwhelming. Such a generous donation affords us the chance to offer this amazing opportunity to many more young people from Cardiff and South Wales,” Andrew Kimber, Snow-Camp Cardiff Programme Manager res[ponded, adding, “It will be particularly important in engaging young people for the first time in snowsports, exposing them to such an exhilarating sport and industry full of passionate people. It is an extremely positive time for Snow-Camp in Cardiff.”
Moving forward Snow-Forecast and Snow-Camp have announced a new partnership for 2018, continuing to work together.
The Snow-Camp Story
“I started Snow-Camp because I recognised that young people growing up in inner-city London had very low aspirations around education or employment, had a lack of opportunity to participate in any sport or leisure activity and were at a high-risk of becoming involved in the negative activities that were surrounding them,” said Snow-Camp’s Founder and Director, Dan Charlish, continuing,
“In 2003, we took 13 kids from 10 to 19 years old on a life-changing week in the French Alps. We had a lot of experienced youth workers with us and there was just something profound about the mountains and the way that snowsports impacted on the young people. We just knew we had something really special. There was something about the shift in environment from where the young people were living day to day to somewhere beautiful that had a real impact. There was nothing else out there that was offering young people that kind of opportunity.”
Today snow-Camp is a national charity which in its last year alone helped more than 1,000 young people nationally, with those attending more than 50 youth projects across London, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Scotland.
