Inner city young people aged 13 – 19 across Leeds and Bradford are being given a unique opportunity to get involved for the first time with a pilot youth snow-sports programme aimed at young people that would not otherwise have access to snow-sports.

 

Snow-Camp is an innovative youth charity that uses a unique combination of skiing, snowboarding and life-skills programmes to support inner-city young people. Snow Camp programmes enable young people to grow in confidence and self-esteem, develop as individuals and make positive choices for their lives. Snow-Camp has grown steadily from 2003 and now works with at least 500 young people each year across the UK in London, Glasgow and more recently, Cardiff.

 

The 2 day First Tracks course will run on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th of August 2014 and provides young people with their first experience of snow-sports, using Snozone Castleford as a base.

 

Elena Kale, Group Commercial Manager for the Snozone said “We are delighted to support Snow-Camp and are hugely excited to be working together to introduce snow-sports to more young people across Leeds and Bradford. We are all looking forward to delivering a successful First Tracks course”.

 

The pilot has been supported locally by Xscape, also providing coaches for the young people.

 

Day 1

 

Fully qualified instructors begin by introducing the young people to the ski or snowboard equipment before heading straight to the slope for the first lesson. Whether skiing or snowboarding, the focus for the young people over the first day will be balance, controlling speed and understanding the basics of their new sport.  Two separate lessons held either side of lunch enable the young people to progress and grow in confidence, all in a safe and positive environment.  After the lessons, informal life-skills sessions look at the challenges faced by the young people and how skills being developed on the slope are useful in their everyday lives.

 

Day 2

 

This gives the young people a chance to further develop their new snow-sports skills, again with qualified instructors leading the lessons, which begin with a review of the skills learnt on Day 1.  Young people progress with their turning, stopping, balance and speed control and by the end of the slope session on Day 2 will have made significant progress. The aim is for young people to grow in confidence and self-esteem, as they are challenged to achieve far more than they imagined they could over just two days.

 

Life-skills

 

Life-skills sessions run throughout the course also enable the young people to reflect on the skills they are using and developing in order to progress with snow-sports, such as perseverance, commitment, listening, teamwork, patience, overcoming fear and determination. The Life-skills sessions show young people how these skills are useful back in their day-to-day lives, and form an essential part of all Snow-Camp programmes.

 

Awards and Accreditation

 

Finally an awards ceremony closes the course, with the young people receiving their AQA accredited award for basic skiing and snowboarding as well as certificates and medals. This ceremony provides a positive end to the course, with young people again being commended on their efforts and achievements over the 2 days.

 

Snow Camp Patron Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Jones said: ‘I have been a supporter of Snow-Camp for a number of years, and have enjoyed seeing the charity develop and expand its fantastic work. As a snowboarder I love the way Snow-Camp uses my sport to support young people who wouldn’t ever get the chance to get involved in snow-sports – and beyond that, to enable them to get qualifications and access to employment in the snow-sports industry.’ 

 

The Snow-Camp journey starts with these First Tracks programmes but many go on to further activities including a residential course in the mountains, with over 40 of Snow Camp’s young people recently qualifying as Level 1 Ski Instructors and some gaining places onto the Snow-Camp apprenticeship programme, helping them achieve their goal of working in the snow-sports industry.

 

Snow-Camp Director, Dan Charlish said “We are committed to seeing Snow-Camp expand and support more young people across cities in the UK. We are delighted to be taking our First Tracks programme to Leeds / Bradford and are looking forward to working in a new city with new partners”.

 

Further information can be found on the website