2020 was not what any of us planned for. 14-year-old Tori, like a lot of people across the world, spent most of the year at home. She'd always imagined leading an adventurous life, and this was far from it.
You can watch Tori's story here.
We filmed Tori when she came on an Adventure Day at Outward Bound Ullswater during Easter 2021.
She tells us how the events of 2020 impacted her and what a trip to Outward Bound meant for her as she adjusted to life post-lockdown.
Tori spent the majority of last year with her big family in Liverpool. The suburban parks weren't exactly inspiring wild adventures for Tori and the prospect of time spent in nature with friends seemed nothing more than a dream. She lost her confidence and instead felt increasingly anxious.
“One of the things lockdown didn’t help me with was anxiety. As soon as I was able to come to Outward Bound I was able to finally get my social skills back and I was able to talk to others and start communicating again.
“The parks where I am there’s not really much you can do so I wanted to come to Outward Bound to see nature and fresh air. It was so green. Everywhere I looked you could see mountains and smell the fields. It’s a smell you don’t have at home.”
Tori was nervous, but excited about her Adventure Day at Outward Bound. She took the leap and broke the ice with the girls in her group. As they encouraged each other to rock climb, canoe and jump in the lake, she enjoyed getting stuck in and was able to start to let go of the previous year's events.
Tori completed big challenges in the outdoors, giving her confidence, a new motivation to return to school and opening her eyes to consider a career in the outdoors.
Tori was one of fifty young people, aged 11–17 who benefited from a fully-funded place on an Adventure Day at Outward Bound during the Easter holidays. The funding came from Generation Green - a 16-month project which has been made possible with funding from the Government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Lottery Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Outward Bound is part of the Access Unlimited coalition who will be delivering ‘Generation Green’ nationally - including YHA (England & Wales), Scouts, Girlguiding, Field Studies Council and the 10 English National Parks.
Nick Barrett, CEO at Outward Bound said: “We know that adventure in nature helps build self-belief and optimism and right now, that is exactly what young people need to successfully transition out of lockdown and look ahead to a brighter future.
Thanks to the Generation Green funding, there will be many more opportunities for young people to benefit from all that the outdoors has to offer in the coming months.”
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Generation Green is the first project to be delivered by the Access Unlimited coalition. The coalition comprises YHA (England & Wales) – who are hosting the project on behalf of the partners - The Outward Bound Trust, Scouts, Girlguiding, Field Studies Council and the 10 English National Parks.
There’s no doubt, as a charity COVID-19 is having a significant impact on Outward Bound. If you'd like to help please make a donation to support young people attend Outward Bound in the future.