8th Feb 2024
A Growing Network of Like-Minded Organisations
How your donations of outdoor clothing has helped support the Essex Boys and Girls Clubs.
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Here at Rohan, we’re proud to be able to support organisations such as Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, thanks to the donations of outdoor clothing that we receive during our Gift Your Gear initiative.
Essex Boys and Girls Clubs work with young people aged 11-25, that come from the most deprived parts of Essex and East London. Staff and volunteers work to enable young people to reach their full potential, whilst furthering their development and education in the process. They aim to meet this goal by providing a range of activities, adventures, and challenges in the great outdoors, to help prove what they’re capable of.
When speaking to Martin, the County Director at Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, he’d just returned from the Lake District, where he ran one of their outdoor programmes. He informed us that some of the Gift Your Gear donations they’ve received from us had been used. “It was real winter conditions, and the clothing was essential for some of the young people who didn't have the right clothing”.
We asked about the items they’ve received in the past, thanks to all your generous donations, and he told us “The most useful items are of course hats and gloves which young people nearly always forget to bring with them, but also base layers, fleeces, and waterproofs. Again, a lot of the young people we work with just don’t have access to these items of clothing, and whilst we have a full centre of kit, it is nice to be able to give young people personal items of kit that they can then take home with them and reuse for their continued journey into the outdoors”.
At Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, they support a membership of around 140 independent voluntary youth groups, providing a range of activities for more than 15,000 young people. With three different adventure centres, they welcome individuals of all abilities, introducing them to the real outdoors for the first time.
Brecon Beacons, Wales
The surrounding environment of this adventure centre displays natural beauty for the participants to enjoy, as well as a range of courses designed to offer challenging adventures, encouraging individuals to communicate, work together, and form trusting relationships. From abseiling, rock climbing, and caving, to canoeing, kayaking, and more.
Lake District, Cumbria
This adventure centre provides participants with the opportunity to explore the beauty of its surrounding nature. Offering the chance for young people to enjoy a life-changing residential experience. From learning to live, and work together, to participating in adventurous activities and challenges, such as hill walking, mountain climbing, abseiling, ghyll scrambling, and more.
Colchester, Essex
Based in the grounds of Layer Marney Tower, where volunteers and staff can provide activities such as raft building, archery, bushcraft, laser tag, and more.
Across each of these adventure centres, Essex Boys and Girls Clubs aim to be accessible for all, providing something for everyone.
Martin explains that they run all sorts of adventures and challenges in the great outdoors, from winter mountaineering to international exchanges with Boys and Girls Clubs in America. The America challenge takes participants on a 3-week trip to Tennessee, where members are given the opportunity to complete their John Muir Award, experiencing the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, a 7-day hike through the Great Smoky mountains National Park where they make their way across 70 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and then finish the award by delivering a presentation upon their return to their club in the UK.
“Young people get to trek part of the Appalachian Trail, or we take them to Nepal into the Himalayan foothills to work with a village (Barpak) that we have supported for decades”. He tells us that they’re all about enabling more young people to be able to benefit from the great outdoors, both mentally and physically.
Looking back on the involvement Gift Your Gear has had with Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, Martin, he told us “We have received over the years all manner of clothing which has really been beneficial. Boots, rucksacks, every item of clothing that you can imagine. These are all especially useful as we run programmes for young people in Essex in the summer, to winter mountaineering in Scotland in the West Highlands and the Cairngorms. Even those young people who have been away with us on multiple occasions may not have the finance to invest in a decent outer shell or a technical piece of clothing that you have given us, that we can then pass onto them to reuse”.
When asking Martin if he has any memorable moments, where donated gear from our Gift Your Gear initiative has helped someone, he informed us that he’s responsible for the winter programme and Nepal trips, and one participant came to his mind. “I particularly remember one young person whom we kitted out with a complete set of base layers, fleeces and a waterproof shell that enabled them to take part in our winter programme”. He explains that the participant was then able to use this same kit in Nepal, on a trek in Langtang where they ended up helping out in Barpak, by working to get a library set up within the village, for their young people.
Thanks to the preloved gear you’ve passed on, we’re able to supply Essex Boys and Girls Clubs with a range of kit that they can allow their participants to take home after their time in the outdoors. Enabling them to continue exploring, making memories, and developing an interest in all the great outdoors has to offer.
To learn more about Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, and the amazing opportunities they offer to young people, visit their website, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.
