With extra funding, not only will we be able to offer Y-Explore to a larger number of young people, we'll be able to fund an increased number of residential experiences once current restrictions are relaxed. We've seen the huge impact that residential experiences can have due to their immersive nature.
Taking young people away from their normal, sometimes chaotic lives and taking them through new and challenging experiences involving outdoor experiences, team work and personal reflection can be life changing and it's reported as one of the most impactful experiences our young people talk about when giving feedback about our programmes.
What we do
At YMCA Tayside, we have a long and successful history of helping young people in the Perthshire area, helping them develop their confidence and skills and importantly, helping find a new, brighter future for themselves.
Y-Explore
Our new social enterprise, Y-Explore, aims to focus on the benefits of being outdoors along with life coaching, providing young people with the opportunity to experience the great outdoors whilst developing important life skills and challenging their perceptions and beliefs around what they're capable of.
We're looking to raise money to purchase equipment that will allow us to deliver activities ourselves and reduce our reliance on hiring and borrowing equipment from our local friendly outdoor providers. Having our own kit means we can reduce the cost of delivering the activities and have the freedom to arrange outdoor trips at short notice when the Scottish weather permits! Having our own kit also means we can deliver our programme to a much wider audience, which would be a win for the young people of Perthshire as well as the wider community!
We'll be pushing young people out of their comfort zone with activities such as canoeing, stand up paddleboard, climbing, abseiling, hillwalking, canyoning and bush craft.
This funding will help us purchase canoes and safety equipment as well as a trailer to get us where we need to go!
