Adventure for All Promoting, Sharing, Inspiring
In 2019 the ScottishPower Foundation supported Bendrigg with a grant of £76,000 for our project: Adventure for All – Promoting, Sharing, Inspiring
This project was officially launched on Wednesday 6th February 2019 by Her Royal Highness the Countess of Wessex.
Project Background
Bendrigg’s ‘Adventure for All’ Sponsorship Fund supports people to experience life-changing opportunities, improving their mental and physical health and well-being. As a specialist outdoor centre providing opportunities to disadvantaged people, often with severe disabilities, our services require a large number of highly trained staff and specialist adapted equipment. These costs cannot all be passed onto our users and our ‘Adventure for All’ fund supports them with sponsorship towards the cost of their residential course. This ensures that no one is excluded due to financial or social difficulties. The level of sponsorship funding that Bendrigg must find each year is growing considerably (2018 levels were double that of 2017) as our users continue to face budget cuts, austerity and uncertain futures.
Adventure for All – Promoting, Sharing, Inspiring
This project is split into 4 main areas:
1. Sponsorship: We are continuing to support those who need financial assistance through the Sponsorship Fund and £45,000 has been allocated to support over 400 individuals to access our courses. We are seeking match funding from other funders to give an overall Sponsorship Fund of £90,000 for 2019. If you are a group who may benefit from our Sponsorship Fund then please get in touch with our Senior Fundraising & Marketing Officer, Sarah, by phone on 01539 723766 or email sarah(at)bendrigg.org.uk.
2. Fundraising Pack: To tackle disadvantage head on and help our users to help themselves we want to create an accessible Fundraising Pack in print and audio/visual. This would detail sources of possible funding, advise on applications and signposting for further assistance. It is our hope that by helping our users to help themselves they, and Bendrigg, will become more sustainable.
This Fundraising Pack is now complete and more information about how to get your copy can be found here.
3. Inspirational Films: To promote equal opportunities and inclusivity to a wider audience, we wish to create 5 inspiring films with 5 different aims which can be shared to showcase groups stories and to inspire more people to get outdoors and participate in outdoor activities.
4. Activity Festival: To showcase the above films and further promote equal opportunities we will hold an inclusive Activity Festival on Saturday 28th September 2019.
Update 01/10/19 – Due to a sickness outbreak at the centre, we made the tough decision to cancel the activity festival. The money that would have been used for this has been re-allocated towards further sponsorship, creating another short film and funding for a Climbing Festival for people with learning disabilities at Bendrigg in January 2020.
This project is only possible thanks to the kind funding from the ScottishPower Foundation. We are grateful for their support to enable more people to achieve through adventure.
