Urban Uprising
ClimbScotland is to work with climbing charity Urban Uprising to offer young people from deprived backgrounds the chance to climb.
Urban Uprising already funds climbing and educational programmes in deprived areas, and the two organisations will work together to develop a youth-focused climbing club which will provide a pathway for those who wish to take their climbing further. ClimbScotland’s Regional Development Officers are also in a prime position to identify new areas which could benefit from Urban Uprising projects.
Urban Uprising is a UK registered charity that funds climbing and educational programmes for at risk young people. With the support of TCA Glasgow, it opened up several projects in Glasgow in early 2016. These run during the school holidays and are proving to be a real success.
The charity also opened up an Edinburgh Uprising in 2017 which runs out of EICA Ratho and Edinburgh University Climbing Wall. These projects typically run once a week for two hours and have up to 12 young people involved. The projects are entirely run by volunteers.
ClimbScotland Team Leader Jamie Smith said: “Through discussions between Urban Uprising and ourselves it’s clear we hold similar aims, the main one of which is to get young people climbing! Urban Uprising has done some fantastic work in Glasgow and Edinburgh and we’re keen to support that and look at how we can get some progression for those young people taking part in the current and new projects.”
Check out the photo’s below from some of our previous partnership working:
Stuart Green, Urban Uprising Founder, said: “We’re very fortunate to have the backing of ClimbScotland, who themselves have changed the face of youth climbing with their innovative Schools Climbing Series. We’re excited to work more closely with ClimbScotland and together we believe we can enable young people from all backgrounds to benefit from all that climbing has to offer. The climbing in our sessions is a great hook that enables these young people to engage in something which is constructive, both mentally and physically challenging, fun and, above all, empowering. Many of these young people wouldn’t otherwise get the chance to participate in this great sport without our projects.
“Things have been steadily expanding here at Urban Uprising, so it’s great to now be working with ClimbScotland to identify new opportunities. We’ve got three Uprisings in Glasgow and now two running in Edinburgh. We’re also looking at opening up south of the border, starting with a project based at TCA Bristol.”
Robert MacKenzie, ClimbScotland Regional Development Officer West, said he had been hugely impressed at the impact of the project in Glasgow. After attending the graduation, he said: “It was fantastic to hear the stories of how it had changed the young people from day one to the last session. Not only had their climbing skills and technique developed, but also their social interaction, confidence and positivity within the group.”
Jamie Smith, ClimbScotland Team Leader said; “The youth workers supporting the group told me that one of the young climbers was initially uninterested and wouldn’t talk to anyone. I couldn’t believe this as I was now watching him throw all his efforts into the bouldering problems – and when he wasn’t climbing himself he was actively supporting and coaching others in his group and other wall users! It just shows what a great sport climbing is – often in ways you don’t suspect.”
To support Urban Uprising you can:
Show up at one of their club nightsBuy a T-shirtText: DBTN01 £3 (or £5,10,20)
Check out their website: urbanuprising.org or find them on Facebook.