Making a difference! 

Hi there

Thanks for clicking the link and finding out a bit more about this exciting project. Channel Adventure CIC is a not for profit company based in Somerset that wants to help more people have more adventures more often. But why do we want to do this? There is no question that hill walking, canoeing, climbing etc. are fun and exciting. The physical, mental and sociological benefits are well documented and fairly unsurprising – we go outside, do something fun, and we feel better as a result. Typically, though, for most people adventure is something that happens once a year on a holiday to the beach, a day out at school, or a really long drive to the mountains…and for some people adventure doesn’t feature in their lives at all! This is what we want to change.  We want to provide adventurous activities for our local community, regularly and crucially on their doorstep! We want to implement a pay-what-you-can pricing structure starting at £0 – and there will be no distinction within the sessions between someone who pays nothing and someone who has paid something. We are there to share the experience, grow, develop, and enjoy our wonderful outdoor spaces.  We are also there to help people find other opportunities in their local community – clubs such as TASCC based at COACH or the wonderful wild swimmers at Fortitude Wellbeing CIC, Friends of French Weir to name but a few.

What will it look like?

We’d like to have a weekly adventure club every Tuesday starting in May at our Centre in French Weir Park in Taunton (COACH). We would have a children’s session of 90mins followed by and Adult session for 90mins. Each week we would do a different activity, this could be water based activities such as: kayaking, Paddleboarding or wild swimming. Or land based activities such as: climbing, outdoor cooking or orienteering. And of course, we are always open to new ideas and activities so if you’ve got a good idea let us know! It will start small, we have to adhere to certain ratios to ensure everyone’s safety and enjoyment. But with your help we can increase the number of people we can work with.

How can you help?

Are you a kind, caring, fun and enthusiastic person that wants to help others enjoy and engage in their local outdoor spaces? If yes then we want to speak to you and get you involved. Do you already hold a DBS (was CRB) check certificate, outdoor qualification or have experience of an outdoor adventurous activity? If yes, fantastic, we can use you straight away to increase the number of people we can provide this opportunity for. Not ready to take the lead on the session just yet? That’s fine we always need assistants to help our leaders and instructors. Maybe you’re someone who is handy and likes fixing things, we always have equipment that needs checking, maintaining and repairing or helping us keep our outside space looking tiptop. Maybe you’re someone who is great at writing bids for grants – which we could use to develop this opportunity further. Or you want to get involved but you’re just not sure how, let’s have a chat, there will be a way you can help. Finally, help us get the message out! Tell people about this opportunity either as a volunteer or as a participant, that would be super useful. You don’t need to be able to commit to every week just help out where you can.

What’s in it for you?

You’re investing your time in others so we want to ensure you have some return on that investment. You have to be having a good time and feel you’re making a difference or you won’t want to come back and we really can’t do this without you!

• Adventures are brilliant and you’ll be a big part in helping people embed this adventure mindset into their everyday lives. It’s not an exaggeration to say that for some people, these opportunities could literally change their lives for the better, now who doesn’t want to be part of that?
• We will support you with training and development opportunities such as nationally recognised qualifications and awards.
• You can access kit and equipment when it’s not being used to further develop your skills and enjoyment of an activity for free.
• You’ll be right at the start of this exciting opportunity so can help shape what it looks like and where it goes.

I think that’s quite enough writing for now, well done for getting this far – I can get a bit carried away with my enthusiasm for this project!

What’s next then?

Let’s have a chat! If you email me on adventure@channelgroup.co.uk and we can arrange a time for you to pop down to our centre in Taunton for a look round and get some more info on this exciting project. Don’t forget to tell others to get involved too!

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Darren Sherwood – Director Channel Adventure CIC.