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In a nut shell: We offer up to a year-long personal development programme for 16-30 year olds, based in the outdoors. It is completely free to you. We provide all of the transport, accommodation, food and outdoor clothing – all you have to do is turn up! We can even help you with bus fare to get you to our front door.
Your Journey begins with a friendly, no obligation chat to one of our staff members. This could be at our offices or at a location more local to you. This is an opportunity to tell you more about the programme and answer any of those questions like “where do you go outdoors?” “what outdoor activities do you do?” or “do I have to wear that!?”
If you like us and what we offer, we invite you in for a kit fitting (we supply all of the outdoor clothing and equipment you will need) and a Support Plan that will help us provide you with the right sort of support to you on the Programme.
This is a fun filled five-day introduction to the journey. You and your fellow programme participants all meet at our offices and the first two days are spent getting to know each other, stepping outside of your comfort zones while playing some silly games and participating in an outdoor activity. The next three days are spent at a bothy (an old Sheppard’s cottage) in the borders, getting to know each other better and building a team.
For the next seven weeks you will join us for a day and a half each week for fun and character-building activities that help you grow your confidence and develop your communication skills.
After activities such as gorge walking and canoeing, this stage finishes with a challenging five-day wilderness trip to our remote bothy in Glen Etive, in the Highlands.
A further seven weeks of outdoor activities and a demanding five-day canoe trip up Loch Etive into our bothy. This section is all about building on your learning in Discover and working as team to problem solve tricky challenges.
This is where you and your team take the lead by planning and leading the activity days (with Venture Scotland’s support). This will prepare you for a practice expedition and a final expedition, which you and your team decide on, plan for and complete.
On all stages of your Journey you will have support and assistance when you need it. We understand that changing your life and your behaviours can be tough! To aid your progression through the programme, we will have a 1:1 session at the end of each stage to check in on your support plan and chart your development.
If your are working with a young person that you think would benefit from involvement with Venture Scotland, please give us a call on on 0131 661 6786 for Edinburgh and 0141 552 8173 for Glasgow to discuss next steps.
If you feel like you’re ready to make a change in your life and feel like Venture Scotland could be the place to start, we would love to hear from you. All you need to do is give us a call on 0131 661 6786 for Edinburgh and 0141 552 8173 for Glasgow and have a chat with one of our friendly staff. They can arrange for you to come along and see if the journey is right for you.
