In March 2023, Mount Cook Adventure Centre was granted funding from UK Youth – a leading charity and youth network that empowers young people around the UK
They received funding for 80 young people aged between 11 and 18 to take part in an “Adventures Away From Home” programme, which was to access disadvantaged young people and giving them the opportunity to experience the outdoors.
Mount Cook reached out to local Derbyshire charities including Team Fostering, Sight Support Derbyshire, and Umbrella - Embracing Abilities to deliver a mixture of residential trips and day trips to the young people they work with.
Sales & Marketing Manager at Mount Cook, Madeline Casey said: “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. The lessons learned by challenging themselves in a safe environment and developing perseverance alongside their peers and families will stay with them for a lifetime.
Many of these children had never experienced anything like this before due to lack of access to green spaces and financial obstacles."
With a vision to make a difference to lives through access to the outdoors, Mount Cook is proud to facilitate this kind of programme. As a not-for-profit, they rely on funding from organisation like UK Youth to work with the groups who need it the most.