Adventure Away from Home was ‘life-changing opportunity’

“An absolutely amazing, life-changing opportunity”. Those are the glowing words of praise from one group which took advantage of the Adventures Away from Home scheme this year.

The last phase of Adventures Away from Home saw national youth work charity UK Youth manage £1,765 million of funding from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport across 83 providers to host outdoor learning experiences for young people facing disadvantage or under-representation.

The programme saw 12,793 young people from 703 youth groups enjoy fully-funded outdoor learning experiences between December 2023 and March 2024.

These included Phab, which took a group of 50 people, including 24 young people with additional needs, to UK Youth’s Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre in the New Forest in February.

Janine Williams, Phab challenge and national development manager, said: “We had a lot of people come along from who have never been away before and that was really, really nice.

“We took 50 people and it was fully-funded, but we could have filled it 10 times over. There is such a need for adventures.

Avon Tyrrell prides itself on its inclusivity and accessibility, with a variety of adaptable equipment.

David Watts, UK Youth director of outdoor learning, said: “The Adventures Away from Home programme is dedicated to ensuring affordable and inclusive access to outdoor learning experiences for young people facing disadvantage and or are underrepresented.

“At Avon Tyrrell, guests of all ages and abilities can enjoy the centre, knowing we are always here for support when you need us.”

Accessible fun on offer at Avon Tyrrell includes archery, tree climbing, high ropes, zip wires and lake activities, as well as a range of inclusion bikes.

Janine said: “The equipment at Avon Tyrrell is actually phenomenal. We love the bikes, for example.

“It was such an amazing weekend. The young people just get so much out of it. They make new friends, they develop new life skills. A lot of them have never actually been away before and it’s just lovely, seeing them come away and make the friendship groups is phenomenal and the activities are so accessible.

Phab aims to provide safe and fun places for people to feel independent, meet new friends and gain confidence, together, having been born out of a National Association of Youth Clubs holiday conference – coincidentally at Avon Tyrrell – in 1957.

The charity supports a national network of Phab Clubs, as well as running Phab Adventures, “bringing together disabled and non-disabled people of all ages in a spirit of togetherness, fun and creating spaces and places where everyone belongs, everyone’s involved”.

Talking about their Adventure Away from Home at Avon Tyrrell, Jackie Orr, Phab charity support officer, said: “It’s a good confidence builder for the children, as it gets them to go on different holidays, and also for the parents, to give them a break. It’s confidence-building for them as well, knowing they can also go away, as they know their children are safe.”

Janine said: “It is absolutely amazing. At night we just sit there and go through our highlights of the day – and there are so many. Everybody achieves something and it’s amazing. Through outdoor learning, it’s just amazing what you can achieve with people.

“Adventures Away from Home is such an absolutely amazing opportunity. It’s a life-changing opportunity – it seems a bit dramatic, but it is.

“We’ve had young people come away to Avon Tyrrell that have mental health problems, that have really been on the edge and it’s just been phenomenal for them. We took a young person away this year and afterwards, his mum said she had got her child back. He was in such a bad place with his mental health, but he came away for a week and now she’s got her child back. It seems a bit dramatic, but that’s what it is.

“There is such a need for holidays and adventures for disabled young people. It’s just life-skill building. Having children with special needs is the hardest thing out there and any school holiday with a child with special needs is long, so to actually go off and do an adventure like this, it’s just amazing.”

UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empowered to contribute at every stage of their lives. With an open network of more than 8,000 youth organisations and nation partners; UK Youth reaches more than four million young people across the UK and is focused on unlocking youth work as the catalyst of change that is needed now more than ever. To find out more, visit ukyouth.org 

UK Youth is involved in a range of programmes designed to help young people thrive, such as outdoor learning, physical literacy, social action and employability, including Building Connections, a youth employability programme run in partnership with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. For more on UK Youth’s programmes, see ukyouth.org/what-we-do/programmes