Looking back at my diary for August was interesting.
The first week involved supporting Sol and her Venture On To Recovery group on their canoe trip to Loch Ard to paddle up to the main loch and back again, with a very nice lunch sitting on the shore with tea and biscuits!
The second week was fully booked out to work with Dan and his Empower group on a 4-day bothy trip to Glen Etive, helping the group to write and develop their speeches for their awards night in September.
The third week involved supporting Beth and her Discover group on their weaselling day near Arrochar (in the pouring rain), while also spending the week ‘on call’ for Sol’s Venture On To Recovery group up in Glen Etive.
The final week was spent with Beth, Louisa and the Edinburgh Discover group on their 5-day bothy trip to Glen Etive.
So, what can we draw from this?
Firstly, the bothy at Glen Etive is being heavily used – 3 weeks with back-to-back groups! As always a massive thanks to our volunteers who maintain, stock and improve our bothy. This makes our lives (and the experience of participants) so much easier, even when the rain never stops, and the midges are out!
Secondly, we have a lot of people making use of the support we offer and pushing themselves to discover more about their mental health and developing hope for their futures. We also have a new group of young people starting Challenge and Discover in Glasgow next month – the first Glasgow programme for young people in a while.
But it does also beg the question, why is the CEO out doing so much delivery work (well apart from the fact that I love it!)?
And the answer is….. money is tight. The long-term effects of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis are being felt everywhere, but the charity sector is being hit incredibly hard. While there is more need for support in our communities, funding to the charity sector is being cut by the UK Government, the Scottish Government, local authorities and our traditional trust funders who have less money to give out and a massive increase in requests for money.
Venture Scotland is not immune to this changing funding landscape, so we have been undergoing a gradual process of change. Our team is getting smaller, we aren’t currently replacing staff members who have left, which means the team are taking on additional roles and responsibilities – this is tough on everyone.
But thankfully, one thing remains at the heart of our organisation, the feeling of hope.
This partly comes from the amazing team of people we have at Venture Scotland. It never ceases to amaze me how hard everyone works and how committed they are to our vision and mission.
But this feeling of hope also comes from the people we work with. Having just had the privilege to help support two groups experience Glen Etive, even after all these years (it’s now 13!) of volunteering and working for this organisation, I continue to be astounded by the potential I see in the incredible young people who seek out our support. To be able to watch them grow and develop in front of me is an honour and it fills my heart with hope.
So yes, these are challenging times and change is hard, and while it’s not strictly my job, the CEO and the rest of the VS team are out doing ‘whatever needs to be done’ to keep supporting those that ask for our help and support.
And of course, none of this would continue to be possible without those who fund us, those who fundraise for us, those who volunteer for us and those who support us in many other ways. I thank you all.
You can support our current amazing fundraisers below:
Brody – The Wild Wonderers
Caitlin – Edinburgh Kiltwalk 2024
Kieran – Camino de Santiago