Skiing in the Valleys
Snow-Camp is delighted to announce that their distinctive and innovative
snowsports youth programme is making its way to Cardiff. The pilot Cardiff
programme maintains the same ethos and vision that has made Snow-Camp London such
a success over the last 10 years, providing young people from urban areas a
platform to break down social barriers, improve self-confidence and open doors to
a brighter future through their experience with snowsports.
The Snow-Camp journey starts on a two day Snow-Camp Cardiff course and provides
inner city young people with their first experience of snowsports, using Cardiff
Ski Centre as a base. This outdoor slope is a fantastic place to get a feel for
what skiing and snowboarding is all about.
Robin Kellen, Chief Executive of Snowsport Cymru Wales said "Snowsport Cymru
Wales are delighted and excited to be a part of bringing Snow-Camp to Wales. We
are in the unique position as a national governing body as we manage a ski centre
and this gives us some direct experience of helping young people to get involved
in the sport, as well as creating opportunities for employment. We are really
looking forward to helping the next generation of snowsports enthusiasts make our
sport a part of their lives."
The first Snow-Camp Cardiff programme will take place in May half term on
Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June 2014.
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 snowsports
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 and will have experienced for the first time
the feeling of gliding down a ski slope, usually with their hands in the air and
much whooping!
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
snowsports, 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 Director, Dan Charlish said; “This new Cardiff pilot is at its earliest
stages but we are excited by the potential. We are reaching out to all Cardiff
Youth Projects to encourage maximum participation and are looking forward to
delivering a fantastic programme. It is always rewarding to see the impact of the
Snow-Camp courses on confidence and self-esteem, as young people tend to achieve
far more than they imagined they could over just two days.”
For all press enquiries please contact:
Lynsey Devon, Heaven Publicity
Phone: 44 (0)20 3544 1563
Mobile: 44 (0)7717 078862
@HeavenPublicity
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. Through the combination of snowsports and life-skills, their programmes
enable young people to grow in confidence and self-esteem, develop as individuals
and make positive choices for their lives. Snow-Camp programmes also enable young
people to reflect on the key issues impacting their day to day lives, and help
them develop new skills to support their futures – particularly towards careers
in the snowsport industry.
Snow-Camp has grown steadily from 2003 and now works with at least 500 young
people each year across London and Glasgow. Their vision is to expand Snow-Camp
to more cities across the UK and bring the success of their approach to benefit
many more inner-city young people.
The funds for the Cardiff camp were raised with help from local Cardiff ski
related businesses Absolutely Snow and Snow Chateaux, Welsh tour operators that
provide holidays to the Alps.
The cost for this pilot programme is subsidised at £20 per participant.
www.snow-camp.org.uk
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